Visiting Junjun and Meimei in China

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Junjun is 10, and his family has a brand-new two-story housepaid for by the family's hard work in nearby fields. He even has his own room, a rarity in such households. And now that they have the house, his mother can go to work at an easier job in a factory. Meimei, eight, lives in a two-room dwelling with her family, where the television and washing machine are side-by-side in the living area. She feeds chickens in the small courtyard where the laundry hangs. In full-color photographs, readers see Junjun and Meimei at school, sharing Sunday outings with their families and going to a kite festival, among other activities, and come away with a real feeling of life in the village of Hua Shan in China. The tone of the writing is inviting and matter-of-fact; this is an encompassing view of two modern-day childhoods in China. Ages 7-10. (April)

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6 Contemporary village life in China as seen through the daily lives of ten-year-old Junjun and eight-year-old Meimei. The book is derived from a BBC Education radio project and, as such, bears all the positive and negative marks of its provenance. On the positive side, the photographs detail intimate moments in the children's lives with great sensitivity. Few look posed, and all show subtle color differentiation. The text flows smoothly (like a radio broadcast), packing in many small facts that will give children a real feeling for China. On the other hand, the generous use of generalizations will make one wince: of clothing, ``they all like to wear trainers''; of simple furnishings, ``these are all luxuries in China.'' Half-truths also abound: curtains are classed as a luxury without explaining that they were traditionally used on beds and doors rather than windows, rendering them alien rather than luxurious; food is cut in small pieces ``to make it easier to eat with chopsticks''totally ignoring cooking techniques and fuel conservation. Sometimes the photos contradict the text. Since Junjun's family has just built a new house, much of the talk about luxuries does not make much sense. As a supplement to We Live in China (Bookwright, 1984), this book presents more of an in-depth look at Chinese civilians, although the amount of information given is slight. The photographs are excellent, and there is enough value in the text to justify purchase for special interest collections.John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library