From Publishers Weekly
As Xiao Ming and his mother walk through the winter forest, the fresh snow-white and smooth as paper-inspires an educational game. While his mother scratches Chinese characters with a stick, Xiao Ming guesses what the symbols represent. Through careful teaching, the mother links characters and words so that they make sense to a child. For example, "forest" is comprised of two characters for "tree." And the symbol for "snow" combines "hand" beneath "rain"-signifying a form of rain that can be held. Focusing on 10 words, Lee (At the Beach) introduces an often daunting language as a tantalizing system built on images and common-sense connections. Thoughtfully composed cut-paper collages convey the same clarity as the text. An author's note explains that, while over 800 Chinese dialects exist, the written language is uniform. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2 Up?A delight to the eye and the intellect, In the Snow, like At the Beach (Holt, 1994), is an impressive and successful description of selected Chinese characters. A walk through a forest on a snowy day offers opportunities to illustrate 10 pictographs?tree, forest, pond, rest, rain, snow, sun, moon, sparkling, and bright. The colorful cut-paper pictures are a mix of intricate detail and striking design. Children and adults will marvel at the creativity and skill of the artist. The illustrations offer much to contemplate so that even those giving the book a casual glance will find themselves intrigued. The glossary is an excellent resource; it includes a cut-paper picture, the character, its meaning in English, a transcription in Mandarin Chinese, and "approximations" of pronunciation.?Susan Middleton, LaJolla Country Day School, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
