Two of Everything

Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale

Retold and illustrated by Lily Toy Hong

Grades K-2

Three Stars

            An old, poor, Chinese couple found a pot, in the field they were plowing, that doubles everything you put in it.  One day, the wife was startled and fell into the pot, so there was two of her!  Then the husband tripped over the pot and there were two of him!   They decided that everyone could live happily since there were two couples.

            The first time I read this story I was a little concerned when the lady feel into the pot because she is essentially cloning herself.  How did they know which one was the ‘real’ one and did they have the same personality?  Also, it seems very weird to have the same couple live right next to each other and all of their possessions the same too.  Overall it was a nice story, but not one of my favorites.

            In the classroom, this would offer some culture diversity through literature, since it is a Chinese folktale.  I might also use it for predictions by pausing the book and discussing with their neighbor what they might do if there were two of you.  I think this would offer students to be really creative.  Or what they would do with a pot that made two of everything.  It would be a great writing tool.  Two of Everything could also be a great intro to a mathematics course on function machines with input and output.  The pot doubles everything you put in it.