Story adapted from the Chinese folktale: The Bright Pearl
Even though they see each other every morning, Dragon and Phoenix are not friends. This changes when one day an island arises out of the Celestial River. Together the two explore the island and find an unusual rock. They decide to clean the rock and soon discover it’s amazing, one-of-a-kind beauty. The rock is really a pearl that shines brighter than the moon and sun. It has magical powers to help plants grow and to never die. Goddess Xi Wang Mu sees the pearl from afar and decides she must have it. She steals it from Dragon and Phoenix. In the scuffle to get the pearl back, it falls from the heavens to the earth. When it hits the earth it becomes a shimmering green lake. Phoenix and Dragon change into mountains (one on each side of the lake) to guard it. The two friends are there to this day.
Full color illustrations with text boxes on each page. The story is sometimes choppy leaving the reader wondering what happened in between. The small size of the book (6in x 8in) may get lost on library shelves. An introduction page gives history and meaning to the images and story.
