The situation of the brothers and their mother is not specific to China or to other cultures. The instance of a poor but honest family working very hard just to stay alive is common to many fairy tales from many cultures. The farm has nothing special about it except that it yields poor crops until it is fertilized by the Dragon King. Yolen uses a similar motif in her short story "Dragonfield," which seems to take place in a European culture.

The Chinese names, especially those of the dragons, may have the beneficial effect of inspiring readers to explore more of Chinese mythology and culture. Undersea dragon kingdoms are common in Chinese and Japanese folk tales, as are mountains inhabited by mysterious beings. Learning that the Chinese have their own version of ogres, the wang-liang, may surprise some readers, instilling a desire to discover what else...