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Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem about China

Name: Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem about China
Author: Ed Young
ISBN: 9780811843430

by Ed Young

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Overview

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 lands grace, depth, and majesty.

Lyrical text and illustrations featuring Chinese characters and paper collage introduce the beauty and richness of China.

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Young's (Lon Po Po) extraordinary "visual poem" is so splendidly conceived and executed that it takes many readings to reveal its richness. Its sophisticated nature may make it a book more suitable for an older audience. In this concise lyric poem about Young's native country, words and pictures unfold simultaneously as if a primordial China were being formed before readers' eyes. "Beyond the great mountains,/ far to the east, a vast fertile plain./ In its sky, mist rose and fell, rain water gathering/ .../ As sun, moon kept watch, earth gave birth." The binding of the book is at the top, and the pages are tiered; each line of the poem appears at the narrow bottom edge of the page, so that when readers open the book, they can see the text in its entirety. The cut- and torn-paper collages literally grow with each turn of the page. Just above the text, Young includes ancient Chinese characters, showing how visual symbols sometimes combine to make a single word, and the shapes in the illustrations subtly imitate the lines that form the figurative characters (he collects both ancient and modern Chinese characters on the endpapers). The textured illustrations are breathtaking-both visually simple and complex at the same time-as Young invites readers to glimpse a world of stunning beauty. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Ed Young

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.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

Young's (Lon Po Po) extraordinary "visual poem" is so splendidly conceived and executed that it takes many readings to reveal its richness. Its sophisticated nature may make it a book more suitable for an older audience. In this concise lyric poem about Young's native country, words and pictures unfold simultaneously as if a primordial China were being formed before readers' eyes. "Beyond the great mountains,/ far to the east, a vast fertile plain./ In its sky, mist rose and fell, rain water gathering/ .../ As sun, moon kept watch, earth gave birth." The binding of the book is at the top, and the pages are tiered; each line of the poem appears at the narrow bottom edge of the page, so that when readers open the book, they can see the text in its entirety. The cut- and torn-paper collages literally grow with each turn of the page. Just above the text, Young includes ancient Chinese characters, showing how visual symbols sometimes combine to make a single word, and the shapes in the illustrations subtly imitate the lines that form the figurative characters (he collects both ancient and modern Chinese characters on the endpapers). The textured illustrations are breathtaking both visually simple and complex at the same time as Young invites readers to glimpse a world of stunning beauty. -Publishers Weekly

"Readers of any age discovering that a written language is picture-based will be fascinated." -Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature

We must turn this stunning book on its side to read it, but when we do, and open it, all fifteen lines of the text of Young's poem are visible on the bottom edges of the pages that grow longer as each displays a line. The words describe the aspects of Middle Empire China—rivers, cliffs, crops, and seasons. As each page is lifted, the visual poem for that line is revealed. And for each, one or more small ancient Chinese characters are shown in red, with components translated, and the form incorporated into the larger illustration. As the pages are lifted, a fresh, somewhat larger image formed from cut, torn, and painted paper appears. It is of nature, but abstract, impressionistic, emotion-provoking. Part of our experience is the effort to see the visual relationship between the lines of text, the Chinese characters, and the images Young has produced. These are so compelling, their naturalistic references so ephemeral, that we are chiefly enthralled by the visuals. With the carefully-designed jacket, cover, and textured paper, this book is a work of art to enjoy again and again, complete with a list and translation of the ancient characters and their modern equivalents. 2005, Chronicle Books, Ages 6 up.
—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

School Library Journal

Gr 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 Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

It's uncanny how much handmade paper, torn and painted just the right way, can resemble clouds, or how its texture mimics a craggy mountainside. Here, Shanghai-born Caldecott-artist Young creates a meditative "visual poem" about China with Matisse-inspired collage-paper illustrations in an unusual format that opens vertically with "stepped" pages. The poem itself ("Beyond the great mountains, / Far to the east, a vast fertile plain. / In its sky, mist rose and fell, rain water gathering, river cascading / Down cliffs and boulders, through valleys into fields") evokes an ancient time of earth's abundance, identified as "Middle Empire, China." While honoring his homeland in words and images, Young introduces 24 basic Chinese characters (the 2500-year-old seal-style) as visual puzzles that are echoed in his illustrations. Readers of any age discovering that a written language is picture-based (that the "river" character is three wavy lines, for example) will be fascinated, but it may well be adults who are most enamored by this lovely tribute to "the hidden wisdom of symbols." (author's note, chart of Chinese characters "then and now") (Picture book. 6-10)