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Summary
Summary
Everyone knows that kids from Chinatown don't go to the park when the kids from Little Italy are there. They're rough, they're big, and they don't like Chinese kids. That's okay-Henry doesn't like them, either. But what Henry does like are kites. He loves them. Even more, he loves to help his friend Grandfather Chin make them, and fly them over Chinatown and the park. But when Tony Guglione and his friends from Little Italy keep throwing rocks and destroying their beautiful creations, Henry and his friends decide enough is enough! In this touching story based on true 1920's events, two rival groups of children representing two different cultures come face to face, and when they do, they find they share much more than just the same sky.
Author Notes
Bruce Edward Hall , a fourth-generation Chinese American, is the author of Tea That Burns- A Family Memoir of Chinatown , as well as other books. His articles have appeared in The New York Times , New York magazine, and American Heritage , among others. Besides his writing career, Mr. Hall also served as the head puppeteer on the televsion show Romper Room , and a principal puppeteer in The Muppets Take Manhattan . Mr. Hall lives in New York City.
William Low is a first-generation Chinese American who grew up in the Bronx. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Mr. Low has studied in Paris and teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His beautiful work has been exhibited at galleries and museums, including the Society of Illustrators, the Museum of the City of New York, and the American Museum of Folk Art. Mr. Low lives in Huntington, New York.
Reviews (4)
Horn Book Review
In a story based on real events in New York's Chinatown in the 1920s, children from Little Italy keep demolishing Grandfather Chin's magnificent kites. After Henry Chu and his friends discover why, the children negotiate a satisfying resolution for their problem. The kites in Low's dramatic paintings differ somewhat from those described in the text, but he portrays the setting and characters with sensitivity. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. Eight-year-old Henry lives in New York City's Chinatown, the three tiny streets next to the Little Italy neighborhood. He and his friends love to visit the kite maker, Grandfather Chin, to help him paste and paint the kites, which Grandfather Chin flies from his roof in dramatic swoops, sometimes chasing pigeons. Then some boys from Little Italy begin to throw rocks that destroy the kites. Henry wants to fight, but Grandfather Chin prefers to resist quietly by continuing to fly kites of increasing glory. Finally, Henry confronts the boys, and learns that they keep pet pigeons--the very birds that Grandfather Chin has chased with his kites. Together, the children work out a deal for air space: kites in the morning; pet pigeons in the afternoon. Hall's messages about compromise and tolerance weigh a bit heavily, but, in Henry's young voice, he tells an engaging story about a vibrant community, which is beautifully captured in Low's detailed, dramatic paintings. For more about the neighborhood, suggest Kam Mak's My Chinatown (2001). --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2004 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-Henry Chu lives in New York City's Chinatown in the 1920s. He loves everything about it, from eating tasty dumplings to making and flying kites with his neighbor, Grandfather Chin. One day when Grandfather's spectacular butterfly kite is chasing a pigeon, Tony Guglione and his friends from Little Italy throw rocks at it and destroy it. Then they ruin his magnificent caterpillar. When they attack Grandfather's dragon kite, Henry and his companions confront them. The children almost come to blows, but when the dragon appears in the sky, again chasing a pigeon, the root of the discord comes to light. Tony and his pals raise homing pigeons, and the kites are frightening their pets. A compromise is reached-kites fly in the morning, birds in the afternoon-and new friendships are formed. Hall's story includes descriptions and details that ground it firmly in time and place, and the plot serves as an excellent vehicle for discussing how seeing things from someone else's perspective is essential for peaceful relations. Low's heavily textured and brilliantly colored kites soar across the pages with energy and grace. This gentle and satisfying tale, which is particularly effective for group sharing, will be widely appreciated.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Henry Chu lives in Chinatown in the 1920s; his favorite thing to do is help Grandfather Chin create beautiful, elaborate kites and to fly them. Unfortunately, Tony Guglione and his friends from Little Italy (the next neighborhood over) do not possess the same respect and awe as Henry and his friends and in the opening sequence, it's rocks from Italian kids that destroy one of Grandfather Chin's most beautiful kites. Over and over again, they tear down these gorgeous creations until Henry and his friends confront the boys, only to learn that it's how the kites frighten their homing pigeons that they don't like. The boys reach a compromise, dividing the day's flying between them. Hall's story, based an incident in his father's life, subtly teaches that bigotry and hatred is often based in ignorance. Low fills his pages with vibrant, glowing color for the kites and expressive faces that allow the reader to feel the passion, fear, and finally acceptance of the characters. The varying perspectives from street level to rooftop, from distance to close-up, all create a vividly imagined scene. An excellent resource for teaching diversity--and a little urban history as well. (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
