Sally Hovey Wriggins:
WHITE MONKEY KING
A Chinese Fable
White Monkey King is children’s folklore based on the 16th century novel Journey to the West. The novel was inspired by Xuánzàng's pilgrimage to India. His amazing feat of traveling ten thousand miles over sixteen years became the stuff of legend as he set about the task of obtaining Buddhist religious texts called sutras. In the lively children’s story, he travels with three other characters who have agreed to help Xuánzàng as atonement for past sins. White Monkey King — the Mickey Mouse of medieval China — is one of the these. Sandy, an ugly. priest with the ability to transform a gourd into a bridge for crossing rivers; and Pigsy, who values himself so much that he forgets his own grisly appearance. Even the gentle Xuánzàng calls Pigsy an idiot. This appealing cast was introduced to American children by Sally Hovey Wriggins thirty-five years ago.
Xuanzang is the inspiration for the 'Monkey King', is a Chinese culture
hero and a main character in the epic story, Journey to the West.
In this story, Sun Wukong, a powerful, yet mischievous monkey
accompanies the monk Xuanzang, (the one who fetched the scrolls)
to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India. Some scholars believe he
is based upon the legend of Hanuman, the Indian monkey hero from
the ancient Ramayana epic. Sun Wukong is also the inspiration for
numerous anime and manga characters, most notably Goku, from the
Dragon Ball series. First published in 1977, this retelling captures
the friendships of Xuanzang, Sun Wukong and Pigsy as they travel.
Pantheon Books, 1977
124 pages
Illustrated by Ronni Solbert.
Hardcover
ISBN-10: 039483450X
ISBN-13: 9780394834504
A welcome addition to the growing interest in world mythology.
New York Public Library Best Books for Children 1972
A lively prankster tale is modernized enough to have flippant dialogue that independent readers can enjoy, and the book is also a good source for storytelling.
A rollicking, mischievous monkey from Chinese legend leads the reader a merry chase in White Monkey King: A Chinese Fable. The story is a retelling, by Sally Hovey Wriggins, of part of a sixteenth-century Chinese folktale, Journey to the West. Monkey King … after many adventures creating havoc in heaven, finally challenges even the great Buddha himself in “a slight misunderstanding,” before he promises he “won’t get into trouble again.”
In White Monkey King the author has given her readers a lively account of Monkey who dares storm heaven itself and challenge and outrage his exalted betters all the way up to the Jade Emperor in person. The adventures of this epic trickster comprise an enduring myth from the Asian part of the globe and, as such, are a welcome addition to the growing interest in world mythology.