educator’s guide
WHEN THE SEA
TURNED TO SILVER
GRACE LIN
BY
Curriculum D Fairy Tales & Folklore
connections D First & Third Person Perspectives
D Figurative Language
Ages 8-12
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
her grandmother. The story is also told from Amah’s
Introduction
perspective while she is the Tiger Emperor’s prisoner.
Just when we thought Grace Lin couldn’t get any better Both Pinmei and Amah encounter people who request
at penning fantasy adventures inspired by Chinese stories of them; in addition, interspersed between Pinmei’s
folktales, here comes When the Sea Turned to Silver. and Amah’s experiences is the story of the Black Tortoise
A companion novel to the Newbery Honor book Where of Winter, who is also trapped and trying to escape.
the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the And while the stories about Pinmei, Amah, and the
Sky, When the Sea Turned to Silver draws from the Black Tortoise of Winter are told in chronological order,
legends and world of the other novels to narrate a new sometimes the stories each character tells are not.
tale about Pinmei’s quest to save her grandmother. In
First have students list the different stories told in this
this way, Lin is not just telling another extraordinary
novel. Then, have them map out the chronological
story; she is proving the whole world is filled with
sequence of each tale (e.g., the stories of Nuwa, the
incredible stories. These stories interconnect and build
Ginseng Boy, the Sea King, etc.) on a timeline. Don’t
on one another in ways that shape and inspire our lives.
forget the overarching narrative of Pinmei’s adventures.
The activities described in this guide explore this Challenge them to identify the connections among the
interconnectedness through a variety of content stories, perhaps by adding more lines to their timeline or
areas, thus offering multiple ways to incorporate this rearranging it into a different kind of graphic organizer.
remarkable book into your curriculum and pedagogy.
For extension activities, you could also have students read
Stories Within Stories When the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of
the Sky. Then, ask students to add the stories within those
One of Lin’s amazing abilities as an author is to weave novels to the web of connections.
stories fluidly within and around other stories.
Finally, challenge your students to write their own story-
In When the Sea Turned to Silver, the main within-a-story, using any of the titles mentioned as a
narrative describes Pinmei’s quest to save Amah, mentor text.
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
The Art Of Oral Storytelling The Power Of Stories
When the novel begins, Pinmei is apprehensive about In her author’s note at the end of the novel, Lin
telling stories. After all, her grandmother, Amah, is a contemplates the importance and power of stories in
renowned storyteller. Gradually, Pinmei overcomes her her life. Share the author’s notes from her other novels,
anxiety and masters the art of storytelling. especially When the Mountain Meets the Moon and
Starry River of the Sky. What does Lin believe about
Have students explore and practice the art of oral the impact stories have had on her life? What does she
storytelling. You might begin by having them listen believe stories are capable of doing for others?
to podcasts and recordings of stories, guiding them
to analyze how the story is told in terms of tone, Have students brainstorm stories that have influenced
structure, pace, and emphasis. Once students are their lives in similar ways. Invite students to explore
familiar with the skills needed for storytelling, invite and analyze why those particular stories affected
them to try their hand at it by telling a favorite fairy them. In a whole-class discussion, see if there are
tale, family story, or a story they’ve written themselves. any common answers or patterns about the power
of stories. Invite students then to share those stories
For more information about storytelling, see the with classmates—orally, in written form, as a series
following online resources: of illustrated slides, etc.—as part of a storytelling
showcase.
• NPR’s Story Corps
([Link]/series/4516989/storycorps)
World Creation
• National Storytelling Network ([Link]) Myths And Legends
This novel tells stories about how the natural world
works or was created as in the legends about Nuwa and
the Black Tortoise of Winter. Numerous cultures have
myths and legends about the natural world. Have your
students research and read a variety of these myths and
legends. For example, ancient Greek myths describe
how Gaia (Mother Earth) was born from Chaos,
while ancient Egyptian tales speak of Ra, the sun god,
who gave birth to Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the
goddess of water. Using the examples they find and
discuss as mentor texts, have students create their own
myths and legends about the natural world around us.
Invite them to write these stories and share them orally
with the class.
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
each novel, and challenge them to select the best of the
three, making sure they support their opinions with
evidence from the books.
Mentor Text For
Chinese Folktales
Like other literary genres, Chinese folktales are
defined by their particular style and use of literary
elements, such as character archetypes, story arcs,
settings, and themes. Share a collection of Chinese
folktales to help students compare and contrast
Figurative Language patterns and characteristics of folktales. You might
A hallmark of Lin’s writing is the profusion of curate this collection to be multimodal; that is,
figurative language she employs. Not only does utilizing podcasts, videos, art, guest storytellers, and
she include plenty of figurative language, but she other modes of storytelling in addition to traditional
also varies it: similes, metaphors, symbolism, written tales. Once students are familiar enough with
onomatopoeia, personification, hyperbole, and idioms the genre, have them create folktales of their own to
are among the devices she uses. Challenge students share with others.
to search for examples of each type of figurative
For more information and examples of Chinese
language, perhaps by dividing students into small
folktales, see the following books and online resources:
groups or examining one chapter at a time. Compile
students’ examples into a class list that you post in the
• Carpenter, F. (1973). Tales of a Chinese
classroom. Referring to this list of examples, remind
Grandmother. Ill. by M. Hasselriis. Rutland, VT:
students to try using such language in their writing to
Tuttle Publishing.
develop their writing skills, particularly their ideas,
voice, and word choice. • Fang, L. (1995). The Ch’i-lin Purse: A Collection
of Ancient Chinese Stories. Ill. by J. M. Lee. New
Companion Novel Study York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
In small group literature circles or as whole-class read- • Fu, S. (2008). Treasury of Chinese Folk Tales:
alouds, have students read the other two novels. What Beloved Myths and Legends from the Middle
is similar and different about the novels in terms of Kingdom. Ill. by P. Yee. New Clarendon, VT:
plot, character, and setting? What about the symbols, Tuttle Publishing.
structure, language, and illustrations in the novels?
Have students read the author’s notes that Grace Lin • Hume, L. C. (2004). Favorite Children’s Stories
includes at the back of the novels. What information do from China and Tibet. Ill. by L. Koon-Chiu.
the notes provide to support their answers? To extend Boston, MA: Tuttle Publishing.
this analysis, invite students to debate the merits of
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
• Lin, A. (1978). The Milky Way and Other • ilearn Culture:
Chinese Folk Tales. New York: Harcourt, Brace [Link]/traditions/folklore/
& World, Inc. • Crystal Dragon of Taiwan:
[Link]/history/chinese_myths.htm
• Nunes, S. S. (2013). Chinese Gables: The Dragon
Slayer and Other Timeless Tales of Wisdom. Ill.
Chinese folktales in the classroom websites
by L. Tay-Audouard. New Clarendon, VT: Tuttle
Publishing. • PBS Learning Media: pbslearningmedia.
org/resource/1f77eaa3-74c9-4c12-b441-
• Werner, E. T. C. (1994). Myths and Legends of bce68b186ede/children-culture-and-folktales-
China. Mineola, NY: Dover. china/
• Yip, M. (2004). Chinese Children’s Favorite • Teacher Vision: [Link]/china/
Stories. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing. resource/[Link]
• Yuan, H. (2006). The Magic Lotus and Other Chinese Historical Museum of America
Tales from Han Chinese. Westport, CT: Libraries
Unlimited. • [Link]
Chinese folktales websites Illustrations In Novels
• BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library’s Page on Another of Lin’s talents is her skill as an illustrator.
Chinese Folklore ([Link]/worldhistory/ With students, closely examine the artwork she added
folklore-william-a-wilson-folklore-archives/ to this novel, including the full-page and full-color
popular-search-topics/east-asian-folklore/chinese- illustrations, the images placed at the beginning of
folklore/) each chapter, and the small, colorful emblems within
the text. What function does each type of illustration
• Whispering Books: [Link]/Show_
serve? How does each type of illustration aid a reader’s
Page/?book=Chinese_Folk_Tales
understanding of the story?
• Chinese Folktales: [Link]
Guide them to analyze the full-page illustrations in
terms of artistic principles—such as line, placement,
texture, light and shadow, depth and perspective, etc.—
to determine how the those illustrations enhance what
the text says and how they experience the story.
Then, have students select a chapter from a novel
they’ve read that does not have illustrations. Challenge
them to add illustrations to that chapter, working
individually or in small groups, using what they’ve
learned about how illustrations work in novels.
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
example, some students might opt to write out their
Folk Art And Folktales
folktale as a narrative, while others might decide to
Folk art is another form of cultural storytelling.
employ a traditional oral storytelling approach. Still
Share a variety of examples of folk art with your
other students might tell their folktales via comic
students, guiding them to identify characteristics of
book, and others might try video storytelling. Invite
what distinguishes something as folk art. Give special
other classes and students’ families to attend the
attention to ancient Chinese folk art. How do these
presentations and be authentic audiences for your
pieces of art work to tell a story in a way that language
students’ work.
(oral or written) does not?
For further information about folktales and
Have students then revisit the illustrations in When the
storytelling, see the following online resources, as well
Sea Turned to Silver. What similarities and differences
as the ones listed for the previous activity:
are there amoung the illustrations and the examples of
folk art you shared with them? As an extension, have • PBS Kids – “Folk Tales and Fables” (pbskids.
students create their own piece of folk art around a org/lions/stories/)
story they know well.
• PBS Learning Media – “Folktales of the World”
([Link]/collection/folktales-of-
For further information about folk art, see the
the-world/)
following online resources:
• Encyclopedia Mythica ([Link])
• American Folklore Society – Folklore and Education
websites ([Link]/?FolkloreEdWebsites)
Author/Illustrator Study
• Education World – Folktale Resources Lin is a seasoned children’s author, having published
([Link]/a_tech/sites/[Link]) a number of picture books, beginning reader books,
and novels. She is also the recipient of several awards,
Sharing Our Own including a Newbery Honor and an Honorable Mention
for the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.
Cultural Folktales Gather multiple copies of her books to conduct an
Your students might already know some folktales author/illustrator study with your students. Have students
from their own cultural backgrounds. Engage students identify patterns in setting, theme, character, and plot
in an inquiry about some of the folktales from the across Lin’s works. Have them analyze Lin’s writing
cultural traditions represented among them similar to style, range of topics, storytelling techniques, and artistic
the one described above. What cultural folktales do style. Gather information about Lin from her website,
your students know? What plots, symbols, themes, your school or local librarian, the Internet, and as other
characters, settings, archetypes, and other elements do biographical sources. Once students have a good sense
the folktales have in common? Invite students to share of Lin’s style, invite them to emulate her craft as an
those folktales using the presentation modes and media author and/or an illustrator in their own work.
that best showcase their strengths as storytellers. For
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
ABOUT THE BOOK
WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
HC 978-0-316-12592-5 • Also available as an ebook
Pinmei’s gentle, loving grandmother always has the most exciting tales for her granddaughter
and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor
arrive and kidnap the storyteller. Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the
Luminous Stone That Lights the Night. Determined to find her grandmother, Pinmei embarks on
a journey to find the Luminous Stone alongside her friend Yishan, a mysterious boy who seems to
have his own secrets to hide. Together, the two must face obstacles usually found only in legends
to find the Luminous Stone and save Pinmei’s grandmother—before it’s too late.
PRAISE FOR When the
Sea Turned to Silver
All titles are also available in
ALSO BY GRACE LIN
★ “Evocative.” –Booklist
★ “Richly complex.” –The Horn Book
★ “Beautifully told.” –Kirkus
ebook format
★ “Captivating.” –Publishers Weekly
WHEN THE MOUNTAIN THE STARRY
MEETS THE MOON RIVER OF THE SKY
★ “Stunning.” –School Library Journal HC 978-0-316-11427-1 HC 978-0-316-12595-6
PB 978-0-316-03863-8 PB 978-0-316-12597-0
about the author
Grace Lin is the award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of
Starry River of the Sky, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Year of the
Dog, The Year of the Rat, Dumpling Days, and the Ling & Ting series, as well
Photo Credit Keith Hallquist
as picture books such as The Ugly Vegetables and Dim Sum for Everyone!
Grace is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in
Massachusetts. Her website is [Link].
This educator’s guide was written by Grace Enriquez,
an Associate Professor of Language & Literacy, Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. [Link]
