Looking for a lovely calendar for 2012? Be sure to check out award winning author/illustrator Grace Lin‘s Red Threads Calendar, the sales of which will go to assist orphans in China.

Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels. Her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a huge success and won many awards including the prestigious Newbery Honor.  It was chosen as one of seven books in our Spirit of Paper Tigers Book Set and Grace was one of our nominations for the  2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Don’t miss our interview with Grace or her two Gallery features here and here.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has just come out in paperback and to celebrate, Grace Lin is offering eight lucky people their choice of print from her Etsy shop. Read Grace’s post here for details of how to enter.

Now live over on the Kidlit4Japan site:

Auction #121: A Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set of Seven Picture books, some signed. From PaperTigers.org

Description: You are bidding for a set of seven high-quality picture books (all hardcover) which were selected as the Spirit of PaperTigers book set for 2010 to be sent to different schools and libraries around the world.

The Book Set comprises the following titles with some, as indicated, containing book plates signed by the author/illustrator:

First Come the Zebra – SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch
Lee & Low, 2009. Ages 4-8

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing – SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS
Written by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, illustrated by Helen Cann
Barefoot Books, 2008. Ages 9-12

My Little Round House - SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Bolormaa Baasansuren
Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press, 2009. Ages 4-8

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference – SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR
Written by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Kids Can Press, 2008. Ages 7+

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai – SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. Ages 5-8

The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos – SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR
Written by Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre
Children’s Book Press, 2008. Ages 4-8

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – SIGNED
Written and illustrated by Grace Lin
Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009. Ages 9-12

Estimated Value: $150

Bio: PaperTigers.org is a colorful website devoted to multicultural books from around the world for children and young adults, with a particular focus on the Pacific Rim and South Asia. We seek to promote the celebration and tolerance of diversity, and to nurture literacy and a love of reading. As well as highlighting the world of multicultural children’s and ya literature on our website and blog, we work to reinforce our goal of promoting cross-cultural understanding via our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach, under the banner Books and Water: Nourishing the Mind and Body.

PaperTigers’ website: www.papertigers.org

Grace Lin,
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same
Little, Brown and Company, 2010.

Ages: 4-8

Ling & Ting by Grace Lin (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) is a story about twins.  Drawn to look identical, Ling and Ting are nonetheless, as the title indicates “not exactly the same.”  The difference is established early with the first story in the book called “The Haircuts.”  The girls’ personalities come through in the way they handle their haircuts, and the results will mark them throughout the rest of the book. Readers will learn how to identify the girls despite their matching dresses and similar names.

Lin has arranged this book as a series of tales about the girls that build on each other.  Starting with “Haircuts,” there are six stories altogether that work not only to establish the difference between the girls but also to illustrate their friendship and sisterly affection.  Among my favorites was “Chopsticks” and “The Library Book.”  In “Chopsticks,” Ting prefers to use chopsticks while Ling does not.  Although Ting tries to help Ling use them, in the end Ling comes up with her own solution which, predictably enough, is to use a fork!  In “The Library Book,” the girls’ different tastes in reading are revealed: Ting prefers fairy tales while Ling wants a book about dogs…

Lin has created a delightful and playful collection of stories here that is engaging to read.  It is perfect for anyone looking for good books for children about twins or indeed sisters.  Her colorful and distinctive illustrations make the book a visual delight as well; Ling and Ting are vibrantly and expressively depicted in the pictures.  Of particular appeal to a young reader  – as I discovered in reading this book with my daughter – was distinguishing between the two girls  since they look so much alike with such similar names and are always dressed the same.

Lin is an accomplished writer of children’s books, and Ling & Ting, her first foray into Early Readers, is yet another example of her finely tuned skill.  She is PaperTigers’ nominee for the Astrid Lindgren award for 2011.

Sally Ito
March 2011

Thanks to author Grace Lin (whose book Ling & Ting was just awarded the prestigious 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor by the American Library Association!) for alerting me to The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. Perhaps a PaperTigers reader can make one of Grace’s dreams come true!

Librarians, teachers, parents & kids–here’s a fun project! Take any Newbery award-winning story and make into 90 second movie. Then enter it into this contest to get it shown at the 90-second Newbery Film Festival at the New York Public Library!

I was particularly excited when I heard about this contest as I’ve dreamed for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to be made into a movie. Unfortunately, so far, Hollywood has not called but if a reader makes a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie I think I would consider that a dream come true!

So much so, that if you do happen to make a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie for this film festival, I’ll send you a print from the Grace Lin Gallery (my etsy shop)! Is that bribery? So far, there’s nothing about that in the rules… Read all about the contest HERE.

Deadline for the contest is Sept. 15 2011 and if you do enter a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie, please send me the link too! Your Oscar awaits.

To reinforce our goal of promoting cross-cultural understanding through books, in February 2010 PaperTigers launched its Spirit of PaperTigers (SPT) Project. As part of this project, we have been donating a set of books which reflect the aims of PaperTigers to schools and libraries in different parts of the world, focusing mostly, though not exclusively, on places where resources are particularly lacking. The seven books that form the SPT set were chosen because, as well as being an enjoyable read and beautifully presented, their content and focus contribute to bridging cultures and opening minds, and promote greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries, and ethnicities.

When I told Mrs. Chantal Dickson, Grade 3 teacher at Anmore Elementary School in Anmore, BC, Canada, about the SPT project she was very keen to take part. Although Anmore School may not be considered  “needy” in  financial terms, it is a very unique school in that the student population and surrounding neighbourhood really do not reflect British Columbia’s visibly multi-ethnic society.

Anmore Elementary School….(click on photos to enlarge)

Because of feedback we have been receiving from earlier recipients of the SPT book set, we decided to try something a little different with Mrs. Dickson and provide more than one set of the books – especially as she often breaks her class down into small literature circles of about five or six students. Each circle reads and talks about the books amongst themselves, and then the groups are brought together for class discussions. To help facilitate the use of the books in this setting, we sent Mrs. Dickson six book sets. This amounted to 42 books so I recruited my daughter, who attends Anmore, and four of her friends to help me deliver the books…

Heading up the hill to the Mrs. Dickson’s class…

5 happy helpers and 1 very excited teacher…

We look forward to hearing how Mrs. Dickson uses the books in her class and of course receiving feedback from the students.  I already know that two of Mrs. Dickson’s top reads from her summer holidays are included in the Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set:  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Little Leap Forward! and I’m eager to hear her thoughts on the other books in the set.

Side note: One of the girls pictured above was born in Ecuador and has a very special adoption story, which is told in the children’s picture-book Samanta’s Journey of Hope by Urs and Evelyne Ribary and illustrated by well-known Swiss artist Magda Blau.  All proceeds from the book are donated to The Samanta S. Ribary Foundation, a 100% volunteer, nonprofit organization which provides assistance and support to orphans and children in need.

I have been intrigued by the Red Threads in Chinese folklore that link people invisibly and irrevocably, ever since first reading about them in Grace Lin‘s beautiful picture book The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale. They then reappear in her wonderful Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Jama at Alphabet Soup quotes Grace as saying: “To me, those red threads, those connections are the stories we share.”…

So I couldn’t resist picking up Ed Young’s Red Thread (Philomel Books, 1993) when I came across it recently: and it’s a wonderful story, which grows in meaning the more you read it. Wei Gu is a young man who, having been orphaned as a boy, is keen to find a wife and be part of a family. Hearing that a matchmaker is going to be in the town of Quinge, he travels there and makes sure he is at the temple good and early – in fact, he is so early that it is still dark (and here, Young’s illustrations are particularly stunning). He meets an old man, a spirit who can tell him that the red thread connecting him to his future wife leads to a three-year-old girl, and that they will marry in fourteen years time. Not only that, but they can go together to see her right there and then. However, Wei Gu is disgusted that she is apparently the daughter of vegetable sellers; and he also finds her ugly. Horrifically, he orders his servant to murder the child – but the red thread cannot be broken so easily and when Wei Gu marries fourteen years later, he discovers that the flower seed his beautiful wife always wears between her eyebrows carries a not unfamiliar story with it…

The narrative is simple but still manages to convey psychological depth; and the complexities inherent in the story mean that the book will grow with young readers. The act of violence is shocking – but as is so often the case in fairy-tales (and I am particularly struck by parallels with the western Snow White here), young readers/listeners will probably be less affected by it than the grown-ups reading it to them. The message that you can’t outrun your destiny is clear – but all the same, Wei Gu is lucky after his wicked act to end up with a loving wife who still loves him, even when the truth comes out.

A red thread runs throughout the book, straight across the pages, separating the text from the main focus of the illustrations, which completely fill each double-page spread. There are grandiose architectural spaces, busy market scenes and energetic close-ups, all depicted in a beautiful pallette of blues and greens, with orange as a striking outline color. In fact, as far as Young’s illustrations go, this for me is right up there as one of my favorites.

Now, there’s a question: which books by Ed Young are your and your children’s favorites? I am being very kind putting it in the plural, because I would find it very hard to narrow it down to just one myself!

To celebrate the release of her new book Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same, author Grace Lin is hosting a party! Here are the details:

WHAT: Come celebrate Ling & Ting’s book birthday! My very first early reader will be available on June 19th and I’m having a party for it! As usual, I will be reading and signing and giving away cupcake + more loot-filled goodie bags!

And the fun game this time? It’s a costume party! Ling and Ting are twins so… Come with a friend (or relative) in a MATCHING OUTFIT and get a special-while-they-last-handmade prize!!

WHERE: Porter Square Bookstore
25 White St. Cambridge, MA, USA
617-491-2220

WHEN: Saturday, June 19th 3pm

Feel free to invite others and spread the word! The more the merrier! If you can, please RSVP gracelin(dot)manager(at)gmail(dot)com so I have an idea of how many goodie bags I should make–but you can always show up last minute, I’ll make extras! Hope to see you!!

Not local? Don’t worry! I’m going to have some online fun available too! Stay tuned…

To give you a bit of a sneak peak, I’ve made a short little book trailer (my niece, Lily, did the voice)!

So far Ling & Ting has received three starred reviews with Booklist saying that it will “…suit the target audience beautifully.” And most recently, Shelf Awareness declared that Ling & Ting is “…sure to be a hit. Young readers will clamor for more adventures about these charming sisters.”

Grace’s previous book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a huge success and won many awards including the prestigious Newbery Honor.  It was chosen as one of seven books in our Spirit of Paper Tigers Book Set and Grace is one of our nominations for the  2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Don’t miss our interview with Grace or her two Gallery features here and here.

Much has been written already about SPT book choice Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow  (Barefoot Books, 2008) in PaperTigers, but one more post won’t hurt, I’m sure!  This book was selected as an SPT book because it told a good story and was beautifully illustrated.  Little Leap Forward, the boy in the story, lives in Beijing in 1966.  He captures a songbird, but it does not sing.  Why?  Set as the story is at the advent of the Cultural Revolution; the caged bird becomes a metaphor for the larger scene about to unfold.   The story is powerfully and simply told.  I found myself near tears, reading at the end, at how Little Leap’s life was mirrored in the biography of one of its writers, Guo Yue.   The story also made the ‘leap,’ as it were, to the stage as well in a theatre production in the UK which PT contributor, Marjorie wrote about in this post. 

Little Leap Forward is an illustrated novel and is for middle readers.  It made an interesting counterpoint to the other selected SPT title, Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, a story about a spirited young Chinese girl and her adventures in a mythical and magical ancient China.  Although China is loosely the connection between these two books, they are as different as — well, apples and oranges!  Both, however, are ripping good reads and are also gorgeously produced.  Do check them out if you have a chance.

Chosen as one of the Spirit of PaperTigers 2010 Book Set, middle-reader Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beiing by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow (Barefoot Books, 2008) is an absolute gem of a book, which all of us (and our children) on the selection panel fell in love with. It also made a beautifully balanced pair with Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: one with a boy as the main character, the other with a girl; both lovely to hold and richly illustrated; both with Chinese culture at their hearts, but each also weaving allegory and metaphor into their narrative.

Based on Guo Yue’s childhood, Little Leap Forward tells the story of the young, flute-playing Leap Forward’s love for a songbird he keeps in a cage and calls Little Cloud, set against the shadows of the looming Cultural Revolution in China. You can read a full review, including a synopsis, here. Beautifully illustrated with full-page color plates by Helen Cann, it certainly offers a pleasurable read to young, independent readers – but it also makes a lovely bedtime story for older children, who enjoy a sustained read over several evenings. The writing is lyrical and so lends itself to being read aloud; and, although the story itself follows universal themes of friendship, freedom and learning to let go of those we love, the book’s cultural setting may well give rise to questions and discussion. The end-notes provide historical facts about the Cultural Revolution, filling in details of what happened to Yue and his family. An added dimension for us reading the book together was that both my boys were really keen to know everything that was written here and enjoyed making comparisons with the story – yet I know that when they each read the book on their own, they read the captions to the photographs but didn’t really look at the text.

We were also fortunate enough to see the stage adaptation of Little Leap Forward last year (you can read my post about it here) and I have recently come across this “SoundCloud” from its opening sequence – so head on over and close your eyes for a few minutes, imagining Leap Forward and his friend Little-Little on the river bank, flying their kites high into a cloudess blue sky…