The Emperor and the Kite (Paperstar Book)

Bought this book as part of a homeschool curriculum and we love it!

This is a beautifully illustrated and written book. All ages will enjoy the story, the pictures, and the theme. Many extended,cross-cultural lessons can be designed to go with this book. We studied the history of kites, made kites and flew them, and the kids really enjoyed writing their own haiku poems about flying their kites. The illustrations are elegant, subtle, and gorgeous. A wonderful reading experience for all!

Great condition! Kids loved the story!

It's about an emperor in China who has eight children, one of whom is a daughter who is much younger than the rest. She is neglected because she is thought of as insignificant because she is so small and young. She plays by herself a lot and flies kites. Her father gets kidnapped, and nobody else does anything to save him, so she uses her kite flying to save him by flying a rope up to his window, and then he realizes how important she is despite her size and pays a lot more attention to her. At the end it says, "And the emperor never again neglected a person-- whether great or small. And, too, it is said that Djeow Seow ruled after him, as gentle as the wind, and, in her loyalty, as unyielding."So it shows that even small people who are clever can be helpful. And small people are presumably the audience of this book. And they can make a difference. Everybody can make a difference. Often people who you overlook have talents you'd never expect. And everyone has their own hopes and dreams, regardless of their position in life.Message: Loyalty and tenacity will be rewarded.For more children's book reviews, see my website at drttmk dot com.

This is the oldest of the Ed Young books we recently checked out of the library but it was one of our favorites. The story and the illustrations are both superb. You cannot help but cheer for our little heroine, who despite being overlooked by all of her family, is the smartest and most steadfastly loyal of all the emperor’s children. She ends up cleverly saving the emperor when all the rest of his children have simply gone into exile crying when bad men depose their father. Great tale for sure!We also enjoyed studying Young’s illustrations. I am not an artist (just like looking at beautiful pictures!) so I am not sure what you would call the illustrations. They are reminiscent of traditional papercut art from China but rendered in watercolor I think. My daughter and I looked up papercut art to compare. These illustrations are quite different from the paper-collage-type-art Young used in his more recent books. How ever the illustrations were created, they certainly add dimension and depth to this already great tale.

ANNOTATION:Very long ago, a Chinese emperor had a tiny daughter who spent her time playing with kites - because she was so tiny that nobody would take notice of her.INSIDE FLAP COVER NOTES:Brilliant full-color illustrations by a Chinese artists in a modern version of an intricate traditional Oriental papercut style, and a simple test, beautifully written, tell this enchanting tale of a small child's love and loyalty. When the emperor was captured and imprisoned in a high tower, his youngest daughter, Djeow Seow, according to an old legend, patiently wove a long, strong rope of her own hair, attached it to the tail of her kite, and cleverly flew it up to her father so that he could escape.The story is told in an easy-to-read, yet sensitive and poetic style that evolkes the long-ago and far-away flavor of ancient China.Illustrated by Ed Young.

I absolutely loved this book as a child, I used to check it out from the school library over and over. I couldn't remember the name but something I read online just inspired me to look it up. When I have children of my own this book will definitely be in our library!

a old/modern Chinese book written before chia was in the focus. great book. read it to my daughter again and again. father daughter classic. received very quickly. good shape.

I'm really pleased at how quickly I received this book after purchasing. It's a great story and I'm sure my Year 1 class will love it as an introduction to our topic on kites. Thank you very much.