In the Leaves
PreSchool-Grade 4–On a dazzling autumn day, Xiao Ming's mother takes him and his friends to visit a farm. There, the child shows his friends the beauty and fun of writing Chinese characters by drawing them in the dirt for the things they see. The story unfolds while gracefully showing the relationships between actual objects and the characters used to represent them. As Xiao Ming draws the symbol for grain next to the one for mouth, he tells his friends that it creates the word for harmony. I am always happy to have lots to eat, just like I'm happy to have lots of good friends to eat with. The splendid cut-paper collages portray the action while illustrating the origin and history of the characters described. As Xiao Ming explains fire, depicted by two sticks together, the illustrations show farmers in the field building a fire. Together the art and text create a picture of Chinese writing that is easy to understand and leaves readers eager to create their own characters.–Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.