Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem About China - Hardcover

Young, Ed

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811843432 ISBN 13: 9780811843430

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2005

Synopsis

Ed Young's spare prose, as lovely as a rice-paper painting, describes in measured detail the beautiful and mystical land that the author so clearly loves. The unique format and gorgeous paper-collage illustrations, highlighted with Chinese characters, combine to convey the many facets of China to form a poetic picture of the land s grace, depth, and majesty.

About this title

About the Author

Ed Young has illustrated more than eighty books for children (many of which he also wrote), and many of those books have been about China. Born in Tientsin, China, he is the winner of both the Caldecott Medal and the Caldecott Honor, in addition to many other awards. He lives with his family in New York.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3 Up–A stunning and uniquely designed picture book. Described as a visual poem about China, the book is comprised of 14 lines, each of which is accompanied by its own double-page illustration, done in cut- and torn-paper collage. Young also provides the ancient characters for the images he presents. Readers are able to read the entire poem from the title page since the pages are of graduated lengths, from short to longer, with a line of poetry appearing on the bottom of each page, overlapping just enough to allow for the text to show. Designed to be read vertically, each page is flipped up to reveal the accompanying illustration. In this way, the entire book becomes a piece of art, a visual treat of sublime colors and textures that joins with text and characters to describe the vastness and beauty of China. A chart shows the ancient characters that appear in the book, along with their modern-day equivalents. While the poetry, along with the illustrations and Chinese characters, may provide a creative experience that children can appreciate and enjoy, Young's rather abstract concept of visual verse, as explained in the author's note, will challenge most youngsters. Certainly, adults would find the explanation interesting, and would also appreciate the reflective poetry and images. An excellent choice for libraries looking for China-themed picture books.–Carol L. MacKay, Camrose Public Library, Alberta, Canada
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Edition details

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0811843432
• ISBN 13: 9780811843430
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 36