The Children of China: An Artist's Journey [Hardcover]

Song Nan Zhang (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Before coming to Canada, while he was still an art teacher in Beijing, Song Nan Zhang traveled from Inner Mongolia east, south, and north to find and paint unusual scenes of Chinese family life.

Here are the children who grow up in the saddle with their nomadic parents or become as agile as the mountain goats they tend. A boy plays chess on the ground with his shepherd grandfather. A teenager tends her father’s pottery shop. At festivals a child plays hide-and-seek, behind yellow parasols, and stilt dancers wait to compete.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-6. In his autobiographical A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night (1993), Zhang told of his experiences growing up in China and living through the Cultural Revolution. Here, using the same format of full-page paintings explained in first-person text, he draws on his later journeys through China, seeking out the nomadic minority peoples, such as the Mongolians, the Miao, the Tajiks, and the Yi. He tells about the lives of each group and shows how they look and dress as well as where they live, illustrating the facts with sensitive portraits of the children and their families, often with dramatic backdrops. Zhang also includes a section on the Han, who are the majority in China. Although not an essential purchase, this book offers intriguing glimpses of life in China. Carolyn Phelan

Review

“His intricate details carefully portray the wide variety of lifestyles, and his beautiful faces glow with deep contentment.”
–MultiCultural Review

“A book that can be enjoyed by any age.…Complex in intent, simple in execution, exquisite in design, beautiful in effect…a forceful statement on the dignity and strength of the human spirit.”
–Quill & Quire

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books (October 6, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887763634
• ISBN-13: 978-0887763632
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 0.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Children of China, An Artist's Journey, November 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Children of China: An Artist's Journey (Hardcover)

I bought this book for my daughter who is Chinese. I use it as an educational and cultural tool of the country of her birth. The pictures are wonderful to enjoy as both an adult and child. My daughter is now two and we enjoy reading the captions to the pictures and as she gets older, I can read her the full text. It is a must have book for parents with children from China.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!!, August 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Children of China: An Artist's Journey (Hardcover)

I would agree that this is a must have book for any family adopting a child from China. It is also a great book for any elementary classroom . The artwork is beautiful and the explanations are simple and interesting.

5.0 out of 5 stars An AWAIR Pick, April 18, 2011

By 

AWAIR Reviews (Berkeley, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Children of China: An Artist's Journey (Hardcover)

During the years of China's Cultural Revolution, Song Nan Zhang and his family were scattered to toil in the far corners of China. He did not dare to leave the country, but he did long to know its nomadic peoples who seemed free to move, work, and worship. As soon as this period ended he took every chance to travel to China's most remote reaches, painting children who grow up in the saddle, who ride oxen to school, who are as agile as the mountain goats they tend. His respect and affection shine in every glorious painting!

And of the nine ethnic groups he surveys, four are Muslim communities: the Hui, the Uygur, the Kazadk, and the Tajik. In addition, one ought to know that there are Tibetan Muslims too! Supplemented with wonderfully detailed background text and a helpful endpaper map.

Teachers/Librarians: 4th grade - adult, social studies/humanities curriculum.