Slowly, we continue working our way through the Caldecott Award winners. Mei Li is the 1939 winner; a labour of love that was written and illustrated by Thomas Handforth. It is the tale of a young girl in 1930s China who wants to go the New Year Fair in the city but isn't allowed to because she's a girl. Fortunately, she is curious, adventurous, and importantly, decides to ignore the prevailing idea that girls don't have the same privileges as boys. She sneaks out to follow her brother to the Fair.
At the Fair, the story hopscotches around a fractured plotline - she runs into acrobats, wise old men, beggars, a priest, and various animals. Her brother teases her mercilessly throughout, but she doggedly pursues adventure with spirit and bravery, finally returning to her kitchen where she finds out...I am firmly against plot spoilers, so read it and find out!
The illustrations are black-and-white; sometimes silly and sometimes kind-of realistic. Given the book was written in the 1930s, it is easy to assume it would be filled with offensive stereotypes about China, but it seems to have a tone of cultural respect and love for the characters rather than a pervading sense of stock caricature and dialogue.
Magdelana and I have had some lively conversations and question-and-answer dialogues about China, about history, and about how important it is that girls do not just accept the expectations that a culture may place upon them - children are meant to find and create adventure and excitement. Boys and Girls both.
And adults too.
Smile.
1938
48 pages
Doubleday Books for Young Readers
written and illustrated by Thomas Handforth
Love it.
ReplyDeleteWe are loving our reading & discussion times too. We are reading books by Patricia MacLachlan currently. Last week we read Sarah, Plain and Tall. Now we are zooming through Skylark.
LOVE your descriptions. Amazing photos--they tell stories that make me feel as though I am "there" in the midst of it all.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great reading tree you guys have! Oh, that our little yard trees would grow faster!
ReplyDeleteKoen seems to really like books--he even likes to page through them by himself. We're hoping that interest remains--if so, maybe one day we'll be making it through the same list. I like the idea of going through a list of award winners--Liesl and I have been meaning to do that with the Best Picture Oscar winners for some time now.
Koen will have to try out Magdelana's reading tree when he gets a little bigger! Really great that he's enjoying books already.
ReplyDeleteIt's so much fun to have a framework for reading or watching something - when you do the Best Pic Winners, let us know...maybe we'll have to start also (except I just don't know that I can make it through four-hour Gone With the Wind)...
I'm sure Koen will love trying out that tree eventually.
ReplyDeleteAs for Gone With the Wind, if I had a "Once Was Enough" list, it would definitely rank high. I think I can appreciate its role in film literature and history without ever having to watch it again :) Liesl, on the other hand . . .