Beyond the Great Mountains by Ed Young

When this book was released last year, the publisher, Chronicle Books, invited me to a dinner in honor of author and illustrator Ed Young. Turns out the dinner was a small affair, with only a few guests other than Ed Young himself and some representatives from Chronicle Books. We had such a great time in this intimate setting. Ed is a tall, Chinese man who simply has the air of an artist. With self-assured and deliberate gestures, he gave us some insight into how many of his books come about, including this one. He said that when he has an idea, he simply must get it out of his head and into reality, whether or not there is a publisher willing to take his work on. In this way, he has accumulated many manuscripts and art pieces that have never been seen by the public.

Beyond the Great Mountains was just such a book. Written and illustrated many years ago, Young could not find a publisher for it until recently. While it is a children's picture book, it is not really for children. From School Library Journal: "Described as a visual poem about China, the book is comprised of 14 lines, each of which is accompanied by its own double-page illustration, done in cut- and torn-paper collage. Young also provides the ancient characters for the images he presents. Readers are able to read the entire poem from the title page since the pages are of graduated lengths, from short to longer, with a line of poetry appearing on the bottom of each page, overlapping just enough to allow for the text to show. Designed to be read vertically, each page is flipped up to reveal the accompanying illustration. In this way, the entire book becomes a piece of art, a visual treat of sublime colors and textures that joins with text and characters to describe the vastness and beauty of China."

At the end of the evening, Ed Young signed our copies of Beyond the Great Mountains. I thought it would be fun to have him sign a book for my mother, who, like Ed Young, is from China. But since I didn't know how to write her Chinese name, I had to give her a call. Ed Young graciously spoke to my mother through my cell phone, in an Italian restaurant in the middle of Manhattan, to sign a book for her.

Beyond the Great Mountains by Ed Young

tags: books book reviews china children's books Ed Young