China (Countries of the World Series)

Julia Waterlow is an experienced writer of children's books and has an expert knowledge of China and its history.

Grade 3-4-- This is a basic introduction to China, arranged under topics such as "Land and Climate," "Wildlife," "The People Today," etc. Each subject receives a 2-page spread with accompanying photos; "History" is given a lavish 4 pages--all 5,000 years of it. Photos are in color, well chosen, and generally illustrate the text they accompany; photo captions often give new details rather than repeat the text. The text presents a number of factual errors, e.g., Chinese writing runs "up the page from bottom to top," Chinese painting is not supposed to be "lifelike" (?), traditional gardens "have no flowers" (?!), etc. One photo does not contain a "Chinese violin," as stated, but the Uygur variety. Despite a clear writing style and sensible organization, oversimplifications creep in. This is especially noticeable in the "History" section, where readers are told that China was "first united into one country in 221 b.c. ," which is not quite accurate, having been one country under the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties of the previous two millenia. McLenighan's People's Republic of China (Children's, 1984) gives a more reliable overall view, albeit for a slightly higher age group. --John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.