The Five Chinese Brothers is a clever tale but it is controversial for a reason. The one issue that I had when reading this book was the stereotype that this book portrayed of Chinese people. In the beginning of the book it said that the brothers all looked alike. I think that looking similar is a stereotype people have about people from China or other Asian countries. This is not true and I would be offended if people believed that all the people from the country I came from looked the same.
I found this book on a list of controversial books at Blisstree .com http://www.blisstree.com/articles/the-15-most-controversial-picture-books-366/. According to this website this book was banned from libraries around the country for how it portrayed Chinese people. According to the Blisstree websites parents at the Salem Library claimed the book was demeaning to Chinese people, which I would have to agree with. The other issue that parents had with the book was the violent plot that it contained. In the book the brothers are to be executed but they are able to escape their execution. I was disturbed by this aspect of the plot and I could see how children could be upset by this, however, I think that the stereotypes this book portrays is more of an issue then the violence. This is a classic children's' book but I would not want to read this aloud to students in my classroom. I felt that if I were to read it to my class then I would be promoting the stereotypes in the text. Children receive enough messages regarding stereotypes from other sources like TV, magazines, movies, and peers I don't want my classroom to be one of them.
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