Crafts & Hobbies - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - Entertainment & The Arts, Fiction - Games & Activities, Fiction - Asian People, Places & Cultures, Paper Crafts/Paper Airplanes, Sports & Recreation - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - General & Misce
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
With the signature style and extraordinary artistry that have won her a loyal following, Demi tells the story of how kites came to be. Long ago in China, holy painters would paint the townspeople's wishes on paper to be left in temples for the gods to see and grant. But one day, an impatient mother who wanted her son to grow up strong and wise, had a holy painter paint a dragon, the symbol of strength and wisdom, on a kite. She then flew the kite up to the heavens where the gods lived so they would see the wish sooner and grant it more quickly. Kites also explains the significance of different kinds of kite symbols, provides information about kite festivals celebrated around the world, and gives clear, kid-friendly directions for making and painting kites. Demi combines, beautiful artwork, an easy story-telling style, and good solid information about one of the world's most popular hobbies.Editorials
School Library Journal
Gr 2-5A picture book that combines a story with information. In long-ago China, a woman commissioned an artist to paint a special dragon kite for her son. It was her hope that this creature representing wealth, wisdom, power and nobility would be seen by the gods in heaven and assist the boy in growing up to be big and strong. Word of the artists talent traveled, and he was soon asked to create a wide variety of flyers for other villagers. The small, intricate, colorful kites illustrated in Demis signature style and set against blues and greens are lovely to look at and will encourage readers to appreciate their beauty. Captions offer brief explanations of the different emblematic figures, creatures, and symbols, e.g., a crane denotes nobility and honesty and a cricket brings music and song. There is also mention of a Chinese festival devoted to kites, as well as detailed instructions for making a kite. The factual information, although clear, is sparse, making this title better suited to picture-book collections than the nonfiction shelves.DeAnn Tabuchi, San Anselmo Public Library, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.Book Details
Published
March 1, 1999
Publisher
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages
40
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780517800508