A Is For Asia [Hardcover]

Cynthia Chin Lee (Author), Yumi Heo (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

An alphabetical introduction to the diverse peoples, lands, and cultures of the world's largest continent.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. From the Middle East to northern Siberia, to China, Japan, and the Pacific Islands, the diversity of this vast continent is captured in childlike, stylized illustrations and 26 well-chosen words. Jade, kites, the monsoon, pandas, the Qur'an, water buffalo, and Zen are among the terms described in a decorative calligraphic type and pictured in gaily colored, naive, nonperspective drawings. Author and illustrator have created an attractive alphabet book that is useful for introducing Asia as a place of many different cultures, customs, languages, and climates.?Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-9. From A for Asia to Z for Zen, the alphabet arrangement provides a panoramic introduction to the geography, culture, holidays, traditions, and animals of the area that is home to more than one-half of the world's population. The focus is on the traditional; on villages, rather than cities. There is a paragraph for each letter, not just naming but describing the Hindu Holi festival in India, kite flying in Korea, and yurts, the tentlike homes of the Mongolians. Heo's brightly detailed, pencil, oil, and collage illustrations pick up the extraordinary diversity of the huge area with a wide range of folk-art styles, from delicate batik craft in Indonesia to camel riders racing in Saudi Arabia. The alphabet itself gets attention: the word for each letter is written in an Asian language; for example, lotus is in Hindu, monsoon in Urdu, origami in Japanese. Starting with the map, children will look at the details and ask for more. Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (March 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531300110
• ISBN-13: 978-0531300114
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,066,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting!, December 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Is For Asia (Hardcover)

Enhancing illustrations and informative text. A delight for children and adults alike. Covers cultural aspects across all of Asia. Starts with the letter A for Asia (half of the human race) and ends with Z for zen (unity).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A - Z book on all things from the countries in the continent of Asia, September 6, 2009

By 

KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Is For Asia (Orchard Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This book is an A - Z book on all things from the continent of Asia which includes China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, India, a large part of the former Soviet Union, Middle East, and many of the island nations of the Pacific. On each page you can find the character, word or language the word is printed in and can be found on either the left or right corner. Each pages either describes each letter is either a full page or half a page.

I think this is a great book to introduce countries to our children. It is important for children to know we are all the same, no matter what country we come from we all smile, laugh and cry the same and when cut we all bleed red blood. Some of the illustrated pages have lots of things on them and are very busy, much like the cover of this book. Some people like Yumi Heo's illustrations for me they are either hit or miss.

This is what each page and item is:
A - Asia (Tibetan)
B - Batik (Indonesian)
C - Camel (Arabic)
D - Dragon Boats (Chinese)
E - Elephant (Hindi)
F - Fish (Vietnamese)
G - Gamelan - An orchestra in Malaysia & Indonesia (Indonesian)
H - Holi - Indian holiday (Hindi)
I - Id al-Noruz - Persian New Year (Persian)
J - Jade - (Burnmese)
K - Kites - (Korean)
L - Lotus - (Hindi)
M - Monsoon - (Urdu)
N - New Year - Chinese New Year (Chinese Characters)
O - Origami - (Japanese)
P - Panda (Chinese Character)
Q - Qur'an - Muslim holy book (Arbic)
R - Rice (Chinese Character)
S - Sled (Cyrillic-Russian)
T - Turkish Delight - A chewy treat from Turkey & Middle East (Turkish)
U - Umbrella (Chinese Character)
V - Villages (Korean)
W - Water Buffalo (Tagalong - Philippines)
X - Xiang qi - Chinese Chess pronounced Siang Chi (Chinese Characters)
Y - Yurt - a tent like homes of the Mongolians (Mongolian)
Z - Zen - teaches that the world is one. (Japanese)

5.0 out of 5 stars A is for Asia, November 26, 2005

By 

Karen Woodworth Roman "Happy Librarian" (DeKalb, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Is For Asia (Hardcover)

Eclectic celebration of the diverse languages, cultures, and religions of Asia. Each letter gives the English word for some word relevant to Asia. For example, B is for Batik and C is for Camel Races. Each word is also written in an Asian language. Karen Woodworth Roman, Librarian, East Asian Children's Books