Multicultural- The Five Chinese Brothers

I read the story, The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese. This is a story about five identical brothers from China. Each of these five brothers has a superhuman ability. One brother has an iron neck; one can stretch his legs indefinitely; one can survive fire; one can hold his breath indefinitely; and one can swallow the sea. A little boy asks the fifth brother if he can go fishing with him so he can retrieve fish and treasures. The brother allows him to come under one condition: that the boy comes when he is summoned. The boy does not listen and the Chinese brother releases the water from his mouth as he can no longer hold it. The little boy drowns and the brother is accused of murder and sentenced to death. The identical brothers take his place and use their abilities to avoid execution. The story concludes with the Judge setting him free since he could not be executed, he must be innocent. I would use this book in my classroom because it is entertaining and introduces characteristics of multicultural and folk literature. The characters have supernatural abilities which ultimately saves them in the end.