I enjoy a good folk tale, and non-western ones can be a favorite. However, when it is a retelling of a western one just to be politically correct, then I can be 50-50 with it. Now if it is based in the culture (such as there are Cinderella stories from around the world, not just redoing the western version), then that I usually will enjoy. But if it is done just to have diverse characters and/or setting, but everything else is the same, those are usually a miss. Until Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu. Because it is not just a Rapunzel story. Yin Chang Compestine (as they say in their afterwards) wanted to write a story about a girl who was not a proper lady, but free and independent.
The elements of the Rapunzel story are there (long hair, tower, loyal animal friend, princess), but there is more to it as well. There are not any witches and Pu Zel locks herself in the tower, but also, we see the culture of China. We see the bold, bright, lush colors of the people, places, and things. The details are busy and fill the page, but it is all there to move the story along. Read them as much as the text as they are both character themselves and support to the story. Crystal Kung made the pages come alive with some lively illustrations. They alone are worth the price of this due in January 2024 book.
And a little about the story: Princess Ra Pu Zel wants to cook, eat with her hands, take big bites, and not learn her needlepoint. In other words, she doesn’t want to be a proper princess/lady. And of course, her parents (the Emperor and Empresses) are, “Dude, ya gotta marry a prince blah blah blah.” So, we then get one princess locking herself in a tower, cooking and eating without interruptions, and some princes trying to entice her out, but only one guy who knows the way to a princess’s heart is through stinky, fermented tofu.
The afterwards includes background information on the culture, country, the author and more.
