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'{{Infobox book | name = The Five Chinese Brothers | title_orig = | translator = | image = Five chinese brothers.jpg | image_size = 225px | author = [[Claire Huchet Bishop]] | cover_artist = [[Kurt Wiese]] | country = United States | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = [[Children's books]], [[picture books]] | publisher = [[Coward-McCann]] | release_date = 1938 | media_type = | pages = | size_weight = | isbn = 978-0-698-11357-2 | oclc= 50015354 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''The Five Chinese Brothers''''' is an American [[children's book]] written by [[Claire Huchet Bishop]] and illustrated by [[Kurt Wiese]]. It was originally published in 1938 by [[Coward-McCann]]. The book is a retelling of a Chinese folk tale, ''[[Ten Brothers]]''. ==Plot== In ancient China there are five brothers who closely resemble each other. They each possess a special talent: one can swallow the sea, one has an unbreakable iron neck, one can stretch his legs to incredible lengths, one can survive being burned, and one can hold his breath forever. One of the brothers, a fisherman, agrees to let a young boy accompany him on his fishing trip. He holds the entire sea in his mouth so that the boy can retrieve fish from the seabed. When he can no longer hold in the sea, he frantically signals for the boy to return to shore, but the boy ignores him and drowns when the man releases the water. The man is accused of murder and sentenced to death. However, one by one, his four brothers assume his place when subjected to execution and each uses his own superhuman ability to survive beheading, drowning, burning and suffocation. The judge decrees that since the man could not be executed, he must have been innocent. ==Reception and controversy== Though often considered a classic of children's literature, ''The Five Chinese Brothers'' has been accused of promoting [[ethnic stereotypes]] about the Chinese, particularly through its illustrations,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schwarz |first1=Albert V. |title=The Five Chinese Brothers: Time to Retire |journal=Interracial Books for Children Bulletin |volume=8 |issue=3 |year=1977 |pages=3–7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Gillian |title=Reading into Racism: Bias in Children's Literature and Learning Materials |publisher=Routledge |year=1990 |page=55 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kinchloe |first1=Joe L. |title=How Do We Tell the Workers?: The Socioeconomic Foundations of Work |publisher=Westview Press |year=1998 |page=289 }}</ref> and many teachers have removed the book from their classrooms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCaskell |first1=Tim |title=Race to Equity: Disrupting Educational Inequality |publisher=Between the Lines |year=2005 |page=102 }}</ref> However, the book has had some defenders. In a 1977 ''[[School Library Journal]]'' article, Selma G. Lanes described the illustrations as "cheerful and highly appealing", characterizing Wiese's "broad cartoon style" as "well suited to the folk-tale, a genre which deals in broad truths". She added, "I cannot remember a tale during my childhood that gave me a cozier sense of all being right with the world."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lanes |first1=Selma G. |title=A Case for the Five Chinese Brothers |journal=School Library Journal |date=October 1977 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=90–1 }} Republished as: {{cite book |first1=Selma G. |last1=Lanes |chapter=A Case for The Five Chinese Brothers |pages=185–9 |chapterurl={{Google books|6WHyKmLSRoAC|page=185|plainurl=yes}} |title=Through the Looking Glass: Further Adventures & Misadventures in the Realm of Children's Literature |year=2006 |publisher=David R. Godine |isbn=978-1-56792-318-6 }}</ref> Based on a 2007 online poll, the [[National Education Association]] named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."<ref name=NEA2007>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/grants/13154.htm/ |title=Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children |publisher=National Education Association |year=2007 |accessdate=August 19, 2012}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==Further reading== *{{cite journal |last1=Zaniello |first1=Thomas A. |title=Heroic Quintuplets: A Look at Some Chinese Children's Literature |journal=Children's Literature |volume=3 |issue=1 |year=1974 |pages=36–42 |doi=10.1353/chl.0.0441 }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Five Chinese Brothers, The}} [[Category:American picture books]] [[Category:1938 children's books]] [[Category:Chinese folklore]] [[Category:Fictional Qing dynasty people]] [[Category:Fictional families]] {{child-book-stub}}'