Ming Lo Moves the Mountain (Paperback)

by Arnold Lobel (Author, Illustrator) "Ming Lo and his wife lived in a house at the bottom of a large mountain..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Ming Lo's wife is angry. The couple live beside a big mountain which causes them no end of trouble. Shadows fall over their garden. Rocks fall through their roof. And it is always raining. "Husband," says Ming Lo's wife, "you must move the mountain so that we may enjoy our house in peace." But how can a man as small as Ming Lo move something as large as a mountain? Maybe the village wise man can help. This whimsical literary folktale is set in China.

About the Author
During his distinguished career Arnold Lobel wrote and/or illustrated over 70 books for children. To his illustrating credit, he had a Caldecott Medal book -- Fables (1981) -- and two Caldecott Honor Books-his own Frog and Toad are Friends (1971) and Hildilid's Night by Cheli Duran Ryan (1972). To his writing credit, he had a Newbery Honor Book -- Frog and Toad Together (1973). But to his greatest credit, he had a following of literally millions of young children with whom he shared the warmth and humor of his unpretentious vision of life.

Though he was a born storyteller -- he began making up stories extemporaneously to entertain his fellow second-graders in Schenectady, New York, where he grew up in the care of his grandparents. Mr. Lobel called himself a "lucky amateur" in terms of his writing. Viewing himself as a professionally trained illustrator (he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute), he said, "I know how to draw pictures. With writing, I don't really know what I'm doing. It's very intuitive."

In addition to the Frog and Toad books, Owl at Home, Mouse Tales, The Book of Pigericks, and many other popular books he created, Mr. Lobel also illustrated other writers' texts that captured his fancy. He viewed this as "something different and challenging." Often his illustrations for those books showed a different aspect of his personality and his artistic expertise, ranging from his meticulous dinosaurs in Dinosaur Time by Peggy Parish to his chilling pen-and-ink drawings in Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep by Jack Prelutsky, about which Booklist wrote, "Young readers will be amazed that the gentle Lobel of Frog and Toad fame can be so comfortably diabolic."

In 1977 Mr. Lobel and his wife, Anita, a distinguished children's book author and artist in her own right, collaborated on their first book, How the Rooster Saved the Day, chosen by School Library Journal as one of the Best Books of the Year, 1977. They then collaborated on three more books, A Treeful of Pigs, a 1979 ALA Notable Book; On Market Street, a 1982 Caldecott Honor Book; and The Rose in My Garden, a 1984 Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book.

Arnold Lobel died in 1987.

Product Details

• Reading level: Baby-Preschool
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (August 26, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688109950
• ISBN-13: 978-0688109950
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,607 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, funny, childhood classic, April 25, 2001

By	Chess Heart "paxbear" (Cattauraugus County, NY) - See all my reviews

Ming Lo and his wife live next to a mountain. The mountain constantly drops rocks on their house; clouds form at the peak and rain falls on their house (through the holes the rocks have already made) and it blocks the sun. Eventually, they have had enough!!

Ming Lo's wife sends him off to the village wise man that first tells them to run at the mountain with a large pole-this will knock the mountain far away. Of course, it doesn't work, so Ming Lo returns to the wise man many times to ask his advice. Each suggestion grows more and more silly until the last one that actually works!!

Mr. Label is most well known for his Frog and Toad books. The illustration style is similar with "Ming Lo", sharing similar muted colors but with softer outlines. The pictures highlight the foolishness of Ming Lo and his wife as they bang pots and pans at the mountain to scare it away or bring food to the summit to appease the mountain god. The wise man is an amusing character, sitting under a small pagoda in purple robes smoking a pipe (he produces more and more smoke each time that Ming Lo comes to ask him questions, to the point that he can barely be seen).

The story is easy to read and fun without being ridiculous. It's an excellent book for beginning readers and will keep children interested as they read on to find out what Ming Lo and his wife will be up to next! Highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book with a wonderful zen-like message for all ages!, June 3, 1998

By A Customer

i originally read this book to my child when she was about 4. this message so struck me that i bought a few copies for friends and asked their opinion. without exception, all were taken aback by the simple message in a childrens' book and it's clear and simple message for adults as well. i now keep copies on hand and always bring it as a house present to leave on a bedside table. or just instead of a card atop a gift. it is a beautifully written book that everyone loves with a universal message of empowerment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ming lo moves the mountain, March 31, 2005

A Kid's Review

what I liked about the book was that it was kind of funny. Because ming lo had to go back and forth to his house and to the wise man .But the wise man always told the wrong thin like to give some bread because the mountain might be hungry and thats why it didn't move.And also like to hit the montain with
wood and make alot of noise, but at the end the wise man told
ming lo to take all his stuff far from the mountain and they
were never have problem with the mountain agin.