Kite Flying (Library Binding)

by Grace Lin (Author) "The wind is blowing..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-The parents and three daughters who were introduced in Dim Sum for Everyone! (Knopf, 2001) return this time to shop for supplies and make a dragon kite, which they fly on a windy day. The brief sentence on every spread describes what each family member is doing: "Ba-Ba glues the paper." "Mei-Mei cuts whiskers." Young Mei-Mei's protruding tongue is evidence of her complete absorption in and enjoyment of her task. Patterns in the wallpaper and floor that form the background for the brilliantly colored, flat paintings of family members add visual interest. More patterns appear on Chinese-style jackets and slippers and on the bright-red dragon as well. Lin's signature swirls in the sky along with diagonals of kite string, grassy hill, and kite ribbons; and blowing hair, clothing, and leaves combine to suggest the ideal blustery day for this activity. Front endpapers contain supplies needed to build a kite while the back pages depict different kite creatures and the attributes they symbolize. An author's note offers a brief history of kite flying. Demi's Kites: Magic Wishes That Fly up to the Sky (Knopf, 2000) provides even more information about Chinese kites and their meanings.
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 5-8. A Chinese girl describes how the members of her family come together to make and fly a dragon kite. Even the girl's two younger sisters help: Mei Mei cuts the whiskers and Jie Jie paints a laughing mouth. The overall simplicity is effective and appealing, and the spare text is accentuated by bright gouache illustrations, in colorful shapes and painted fabric patterns that call up the same strong style Lin used in Dim Sum for Everyone! (2001). The close-up perspective will draw little ones right into the project; the finished dragon kite flies as if "talking to the wind. What do you think he's saying?" Two pages of endnotes provide historical and cultural context for this favorite pastime, and clever endpapers display craft supplies and kite shapes. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (June 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375915206
• ISBN-13: 978-0375915208
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,045,339 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High-flying fun, September 12, 2002

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Kite Flying (Hardcover)

In "Kite Flying," by Grace Lin, a family makes a dragon kite together and then takes it out for a flight. It's a simple story that effectively combines brightly colored illustrations with an easy-to-read text. Sample text: "It is a good day for kites." It's an enjoyable story that is also a positive portrayal of a family at work on a project together.

At the end of the book is a short supplemental article which describes the history of kite flying and discusses some Chinese traditions related to this activity. There is also an illustrated gallery of various animal kites: butterfly, crab, fish, etc.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, colorful, and like a kite.. surprising in direction, December 17, 2002

By	Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Kite Flying (Hardcover)

Grace Lin's pages are filled with spirograph-like swirls, bright patterns, bold colors, and even more colors. The inside cover is filled with drawings of the tools needed to make a kite (paper, scissors, paint, glue, etc), while the back inside cover is filled with the meanings attributed to the types of kites you fly (dragons for wisdom, dragonflies for Summer, butterflies for love, fish for abundance, taods for long life, etc). The whole family is involved in making the feng zheng kite, and then they ascend a hill to fly it with other families. She closes the book by asking the reader to imagine what people's kites are saying about their wishes and desires.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story, a little history and a treat to the readers eyes!, November 7, 2004

By	KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Kite Flying (Paperback)

I like that this book starts as soon as you open the book.. not 3 pages later! On the inside cover with items one might use to make a kite. The next page shows the narrator and her family at the store picking out these items on a beautiful windy day made for kite flying!

I like that Grace Lin uses the Chinese names for each of family members Baba- dad, Mei Mei - little sister, Jie-Jie older sister and everyone know who Ma-Ma is! Each page is a visual treat for the readers eyes.

Once the story ends, the book doesn't end there Grace tells the readers a brief history of kites and how the Chinese thought that kites could carry away their bad luck & talk to the spirits in the sky. Kites where also in the shapes that the person flying it wished to possess. The author shares that a dragon kite symbolizes power, widom and wealth. She also talks China's annual kite-flying day the double 9 festival and how kite flying spread through out the world. Turn the page, this book continues on showing the reader different types of kites in all sorta of animals and what they stand for!

I also love that when read the little blurp about the author she talks of flying kites with her family and that her favorite kite was a store bought kite called King Kong and how that one day while flying broke free and that Grace still wonders if it's still up there in the sky somewhere flying! I hope she's right!