The Runaway Rice Cake

Although suffering from the effects of a year of drought, and the food shortages that followed it, the Chang family prepares for the New Year's celebration as best they can in this heartwarming holiday picture-book, tending to their Kitchen God's altar, and using the last of their rice flour to cook one single nián-gão, or New Year's cake. When the nián-gão jumps out of the pan, however, and takes off with a shout of "Ai yo! I don't think so!," the Changs immediately give chase, pursuing the fleeing pastry through the village, until they all, pursued and pursuers, collide with an elderly woman, unsteady on her feet because of hunger. Will the rebellious cake relent, in the face of true need? Will the Changs, with their three hungry show more boys, share what they have?

The answer to both of these questions is yes, making this Chinese New year's tale, and its conclusion, in which generosity and virtue are amply rewarded, both an engaging story, and a gentle reminder of what is truly important, at this pivotal moment in the year. I appreciated the similarities here, both to the runaway Gingerbread Man tale-type (it's a pancake, in many cultures), and to the Stone Soup story, with its group of villagers that pool what they have, and end up with more than they expected. The artwork, done in acrylic by Tungwai Chau, is colorful and appealing. All in all, a solidly engaging story, one I recommend to anyone looking for children's books with a Chinese New Year's theme. show less

This story is a great introduction to young readers to explore the culture of the Chinese new year. This story begins as gingerbread tale with all the great influences from the Chinese culture. The tale starts out as the gingerbread does with a rice cake that they bake and it grows legs and runs away. It runs past everyone in their town until the old grandma catches it and eats it. The old grandmother turns out to be a powerful Sensei and gives the family a feast they can enjoy the Chinese New year with all their friends and family. At the end of the book they have a nice recipe for rice cakes, which i think added a nice touch.

I found this to be an interesting approach to the Gingerbread Man. The main theme of the book is to express the importance of sharing.

I like the story, and think it is a good portrayal of the Chinese New Year. For example I like how the rice cake brings the family to the older woman. Even though they did not have much, they still shared. They return home to find others whom are willing to share because of what they heard. This is very much the Asian, and Chinese mentality. I found this to be heart warming and compassionate.

I also like the illustrations. For example, the illustrations were pretty accurate in showing Spring Festival decorations and customs. I like how they are also wearing the traditional dress. These are not mentioned show more in the text, so it progresses the story in a different way. Overall, I find this book to be a good introduction to Chinese New Year. show less

I enjoyed reading this book for many different reasons. I liked this book because the author created a realistic feel intertwined with fiction. The author created a story about a family celebrating the Chinese New Year. As part of a tradition, the family baked the rice cake for their feast. However, the family opened the oven and the rice cake ran away. The “runaway rice cake” took readers on an adventure through the traditions that occur in China for the Chinese New Year. This allowed readers to learn about the traditions of the Chinese culture. I liked the illustrations of this book because they were very detailed and helped show the readers the different aspects the Chinese culture. This traditional Literature book had many show more aspects of the country and culture. The author also included a note in the back of the book that allowed readers to learn more about the Chinese New Year and the importance of eating rice cakes. I enjoyed reading this book and would definitely read it to my future class to inform them about the culture and traditions that occur during the Chinese New Year. show less

This is a great story with the elements of a folktale, about a Chinese New Year celebration that goes awry when the rice cake (nian-gao) comes to life and runs away from a hungry family, who decide to share it with a needy stranger, and are rewarded when their unselfish generosity rebounds back onto them. A great choice to introduce children ages 5-8 to the Chinese New Year celebration, it includes a page about traditional celebrations, and a recipe for the rice cake mentioned in the story. The only problem with the book is that there is not a lot of contrast between the text and the beige background, but the acrylic illustrations are simple yet expressive. Recommended for storytime, as the text lends itself to oral storytelling.

Generosity is the theme of this story, and Da's good deed is coming back to him and his family, in a huge way. Da's family used the last of their rice flour to cook a rice cake in celebration of New Years. The rice cake comes to life and runs away, colliding with an elderly woman who hasn't eaten much for a couple of days. Da offers her the rice cake and she eats the whole thing. When the rest of the town hears of what happened, they bring different foods to the house for the family. The kitchen God supplies enough food for everyone to have a large feast.

This is the story of the Chang family celebrating Chinese New Year. This year, they only have enough flour to make one rice cake and when they are taking out the rice cake, it comes alive and runs away. The rice cake runs through the village and nothing is able to stop it until it comes to an old woman. The family decides to share it with the woman since she stopped the rice cake, but she ends up eating the whole thing. When the people from the village hear what the Chang family did, they bring the family food because they were so generous. When the family opens the lids of the food, the food begins to multiply and they soon have a table full of food. The theme of this story is that if you are generous to others they will be generous to show more you. This was a funny book because it was about a rice cake coming alive and running through a village. show less