The beautiful young daughter of a Mandarin leads a sheltered life in this retelling of a Vietnamese legend, until the day she hears an enchanting song from her tower window and, imagining it is sung by a handsome young man, falls in love. When she doesn't hear the song again, she goes into a decline, worrying her powerful father, who tracks down the fisherman. But when the maiden sees the fisherman - poor, ugly and old - she closes the door in his face, unaware that, in that brief moment, he had fallen in love with her. The fisherman dies shortly thereafter of grief, and his heart, now a crystal because of the suffering it had endured, is made into a tea cup for the maiden, who realizes her unkindness...

There is a haunting quality to The Crystal Heart: A Vietnamese Legend, which offers no easy (and unrealistic) "happily ever after" endings. In thinking about the story, and the way in which it encourages the reader to sympathize with the fisherman, I was struck by the fact that both he and the maiden fell in love with an illusion, either of voice or of appearance. The difference between the two lies in kindness, or the lack thereof, and the legend highlights how our own acts of cruelty, however unintentional, can have unintended consequences, and stay with us for the rest of our lives. The melancholy tone here suited me, and the darker-toned but beautiful illustrations from Joseph Daniel Fiedler were well matched with the story. Recommended to young folklore loves, and picture-book readers interested in Vietnamese lore. ( )

This is the Vietnamese legend of a girl who falls in love with the voice of a man. The man turns out to be a fisherman. She gets sick and she believes love is the only thing that can make her better. The fisherman comes to her but when she learns his status she sends him away. He goes home and ends up dying of a broken heart. His broken heart turns into a crystal, which the girl eventually finds in the river. She is upset and realizes she made a mistake. The theme of this is not to judge based on looks, status, or worth. ( )

I grew up listening to Vietnamese folk tales and I've heard the story of Truong Tri and Mi Nuong a million time. It's a really beauty love story but the ending is quite sad. It was suppose to be a love story between the princess Mi Nuong who fell in love with the fisherman name Truong Tri through his lovely flute songs. Every night Mi Nuong would sing along to the flute played by Truong Tri from across the river. They never met but fell in love through music. Mi Nuong imagined him to be sweet and handsome like the music he played but was disappointed at their first meeting. Truong Tri was heart broken for disappointing Mi Nuong and fell to his death. After a few days Mi Nuong noticed the music had stopped and came looking for him only to find out he's forever gone. Only then she knew she would've loved him no matter what he looked like but it was too late. I find Aaron's version of the story is accurate for the most part but I don't think it captured the true meaning from the original story. ( )

A beautiful retelling of an old legend with a wonderful moral. ( )

This a vietnamese legend about a girl that falls in love with the voice of a man that turns out to be an average fisherman. When she falls ill and thinks that she needs love to make her better. The fisherman is brought to her and when she realizes who he is and his status, she dismisses him. The fisherman goes home and dies of a broken heart, which then turns into a crystal. The vietnamese girl find the crystal heart in the river and realizes that she made a huge mistake. She has to live with this for the rest of her life. It teaches you not to judge someone by the their physical appearance or their status. ( )