Drawing extensively on Chinese sources, Sanders has put together a wide-ranging collection, including myths of origin, folktales, dragon and monkey spirit stories, and Buddhist and Taoist tales. The design is less successful than the text selection. In fact, the book looks rather like an encyclopedia, and important figures that appear in the double-page illustrations often disappear into the gutter. Still, since the anthology's aim is comprehensiveness rather than entertainment, the book works, and it will be useful to young people trying to understand or compare a culture through its stories.