Jin Jin the Dragon

Author: Grace Chang
Genre: Myth
Summary: Jin Jin is a dragon who searches for his purpose. He does not know who or what he is. He travels on a journey and meets with animals and finds clues/Chinese characters that leads him to the wise Turtle and Crane. Jin Jin discovers that he is a water breathing dragon whose special purpose is to give water the land to feed the people.

Special notes: Chaun and I discovered this book at Barnes and Nobel in Brooklyn Center. We decided to call Taj our dragon soon after-wards. It teaches about identity because the dragon discovers he is special because he carries unique characteristics from each individual animal. There is also is a section at the back of the book that shares the history of the Chinese dragon and it's relationship to the the people. Unlike the popularized depiction of a fierce fire-breathing dragon, the Chinese dragon originated to be tame, revered and water-breathing.


Reading Skills: Compare and Contrast Animals to the Dragon or Jin Jin/Chinese Dragon to other depictions of dragons

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