四大名著 汉语拼音版 新加坡学生读本 Four Great Classical Novels Hanyu Pinyin Version (Set of 4)

The 4 great classical novels are the bedrock of Chinese literary culture!

Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature 四大名著 include

• Journey to the West 《西游记》
• Outlaws of the Marsh《水浒传》
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms《三国演义》
  
• Dream of the Red Chamber《红楼梦》

What we like about this bookset

• Hanyu Pinyin - this is my 9 year old's favourite feature. He says that hanyu pinyin helps him read the story more confidently even if he can't read a few words here and there, and because he can read it himself!
• Illustrations are helpful for us to understand the context and text better.
• Each episode is condensed into about 3-6 pages, makes for a quick read!
• Written specifically for Singaporean Primary School children - the language used is suitable for middle to upper primary level.
• Q&A after each chapter - in Multiple Choice format, Open Ended questions or matching activity. This is surprisingly fun to go through, despite how applicable these skills are in their exams!!! We enjoyed answering these questions and going back to the text to find the answers >.< Encourages us to reflect on what we read and helps us to remember the key points of the text too! Such a nice touch.
• I find these books very suitable for silent reading, even more so AFTER I've read through at least once with my child.

Recommended for Ages: 8-12
Pages: About 170-198 per book
Format: Softcover 
Language: Simplified Chinese with hanyu pinyin
Original Authors: 吴承恩 （西游记），曹雪芹 （红楼梦）， 施耐庵 （水浒传），罗贯中 （三国演义）

Sharing our experience:

• We're still early in our exploration of the 4 great classical novels with my 6 and 8 year olds, and I find Journey to the West 《西游记》the most kid-friendly to start with! 
• I highly recommend to pique the kids' interest by watching Little Fox Chinese's Journey to the West 《西游记》

• Illustrations are really attractive
  
• The audio narration is very clear, well-paced, with lovely sound effects. Language used is very suitable for ages 4 and up.
• Check out the Youtube playlist link for the videos - as of Feb 2022 they have 34 episodes on youtube, and possibly more being uploaded. 
• Little Fox Chinese's website has the videos too!
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• quizzes,
• customisable vocabulary bank with pinyin, meaning, examples / sample sentences
• text and english translation
• I absolutely love that the audio version of the cartoon can be downloaded, to listen without watching the cartoon!
  We listen to this in the car, or during mealtimes. I do this AFTER we watch the cartoon, so my kids already have a visual image of the scenes and can follow! When we listen to the audio clips again, the kids really pay attention to the narration and conversations. They've picked up a lot of vocabulary on their own through this process.
• On a side note, 西游记 does contain many spiritual references to Buddhism, mention of Hades and demons - some of us may not be very comfortable with it. We approach this cautiously as well, and remind our kids that the story is fictional, and center them back on our family's values. Teaching them to have an open yet discerning mind is important for our family too.