The Runaway Wok

Title: The Runaway Wok

Author: Ying Chang Compestine

Genre: Fractural Literature

Summary: Ming’s parents sent him to the market to trade eggs for a bag of rice. He walked and daydreamed about new toys and his friends. A man made an offer with Ming but it wasn’t for rice so he declined. He eventually accepted it and his mother wasn’t happy. She cleaned the wok out that he got and put it on the table. It rolled off the table and started to sing! It went all the way over to the Li household. Nobody knew where it came from. They ate food from it, and soon enough, it jumped out of the window, singing. Next, the wok went to the Zhang family. They had food, and it went away singing again. At the market, Lan saw it. He went home and the wok skipped off, singing. It then arrived at Mr. Li’s. It was a repeat. At the part for the Chinese New Year, the wok went off without anyone even noticing. Next, it hopped out of the Li household, singing to them to try and catch him. Mr. Li tried but slipped and fell into the wok. Chubby Lan arrived but fell inside with them. They all tumbled through the air. The Li family was never seen in Beijing again. The Zhang family opened the shop and they sold woks of all styles.

Characters: Ming, Ming’s family, Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, the Zhang family

Setting: Beijing

Plot: Ming was supposed to get rice from the market, but instead, he got a magic wok that continuously ran away from several families.

Theme: N/A

Opinion: I wasn’t a hug fan of this book, but I thought it was cute. I didn’t fully understand the point of it, but it was funny and well written.