Two of Everything

Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong tells the story of a poor older couple, Mrs. and Mr. Haktak, discovering a magical brass pot in their garden with magic abilities. The pot symbolizes luck, but it also shows the consequences of greed, showcasing how quickly good things can be taken advantage of. After tossing a purse containing five coins and a hairpin into the pot, they find themselves with double the items. Soon, however, greed takes over, and they spend the whole night duplicating more and more coins. But greed leads to a mistake when they accidentally fall into the pot, resulting in two couples emerging instead of one. Throughout the story, their character development shows their journey from being poor to becoming greedy, but then show more learning their lesson and becoming more conscious of their luck and content with having another couple to spend time with. show less

This is the retelling of a traditional Chinese tale about a farming couple finding a pot that magically doubles everything they add to it. This seems like a great treasure they have found! That is, until they become greedy, and a problem arises. LilyToyHong does a great job making this story accessible to children with beautiful illustrations. The story lacks a true conflict and resolution that would make it a great lesson for children about the problems with greed. It is humorous and gentle in its story-telling. At the end, everyone ends up happy and there is no problem. I would like to see a version of this story that includes the repercussions of using the pot and how it has an effect on not just the Haktaks, but the community around show more them. show less

In my opinion, this Chinese folk tale is a great way to teach about greed. Mr. Haktak discovers a magic pot that duplicates everything put in it. Because his wife and him are not very wealthy they begin to use the pot to duplicate coins. They become so overwhelmed with wanting to gain more and more from the pot however that they accidently fall in, creating a problem. The story shows that becoming carried away with want and greed can lead to unexpected and unwanted results because that becomes the focus of someone’s life and that with greed comes consequences which the Haktak’s faced as they became doubled. I also liked this book because the illustrations helped to tell the story. If someone did not read the words in the book they show more could still understand what was happening through seeing the coins double before the Haktak’s fell into the pot themselves creating multiple Haktak couples. If a young reader was having difficulty with the text they could easily follow along using the illustrations. show less

In this comical Chinese folktale, a magical pot doubles everything put inside it. It teaches young readers that getting two of everything is not always a good thing. I would recommend this book to an elementary math class. It will give everyone a laugh and an understanding of doubling.

“Two of Everything”, a comic Chinese folktale retold by Lily Toy Hong, contains elements of many magical-pot stories. When Mr. Haktak dug up an old brass pot from his field, he wasn’t sure what to do with the old pot at first. So, he decided to take it home and show it to his wife, Mrs. Haktak. On the way home Mr. Haktak dropped his coin purse inside the pot. At home the old folks found out that the brass pot was magical. They learned it by accidentally dropping Mrs. Haktak’s hairpin inside. When she reached inside the pot to retrieve the hairpin, she realized that there were two hairpins inside the pot; she also found two of Mr. Haktak’s coin purses. The old couple got so excited, that they started to throw all kinds of show more objects inside the brass pot and took out two of everything. They knew now that they wouldn’t be poor anymore. But as we all know, magic can bring some trouble. And that is exactly what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Haktak. When morning came, Mr. Haktak took a whole basket of gold coins and went to the village. While he was gone, Mrs. Haktak embraced her favorite pot and accidentally fell inside it. And this was where the trouble began…
I think it is a great book for the kids, ages 3 & up. The plot is very simple and direct; the language engaging and the illustrations are adding a special charm to the story. Elementary school teachers can use the story to teach students doubling lesson, as well as to introduce kids to the Chinese culture and folklore. The teacher can use it for compare/contrast lessons (ex: comparing folktale from different countries that contain a magical object-pot, comparing characters of the story as well as the moralss that stories teach). These types of discussions will encourage critical thinking. show less

Two of Everything is an illustrated version of a Chinese Folktale in which a couple finds a pot that will double anything you put in it - even themselves! The story is enjoyable and would be intriguing to young students. It could also start a math discussion about doubling numbers.The illustrations are simple but pretty. I held off from giving a full 4 stars because I couldn't quite come up with a reasonable moral for the story.

In Lily Toy Hong's "Two of Everything", a couple finds a magical pot, which they learn can duplicate both worldly possessions and people. When they accidentally fall into the pot, they realize that they can share their wealth with their duplicates. I feel that with the amount of words, that this book would be better for 2nd graders. For this book, I would have my students predict what the couple would do with their wealth, and have a discussion about the importance of sharing ones resources with others.