Red Kite, Blue Kite - Hardcover

Ji-li Jiang (www.jilijiang.com) was born in Shanghai , China. For over twenty years she nursed her childhood memories of surviving the Cultural Revolution in China, and she finally brought them to life in her first book, Red Scarf Girl, which has sold more than 300,000 copies since it was published in 1997 and has become required reading in many schools. Following the success of Red Scarf Girl, she published her adaptation of Chinese classic folklore, Magical Monkey King: Mischief in Heaven. When she isn't writing or speaking, Ji-li devotes time to various cultural exchange programs, including leading group trips to China. She believes that a better understanding among people around the world is the only route to global peace.


Greg Ruth (www.gregthings.com) has worked in comics since 1993, creating artwork for The New York Times, DC Comics, Paradox Press, Fantagraphics Books, Caliber Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and The Matrix. His book projects include The Lost Boy, which he wrote and illustrated, and The Secret Adventures of Jack London, The Haunting of Charles Dickens, A Pirate's Guide to First Grade, and R.L. Stine's Goosebumps tales. After watching President Obama's Inauguration he was inspired to create sketches that eventually became the basis of his picture book Our Enduring Spirit. Greg lives in Massachusetts with his family.

The author of the acclaimed memoir Red Scarf Girl (1997), based on her childhood survival of China’s Cultural Revolution, tells a moving picture-book story of a child in those same harsh times. Tai Shan loves flying kites with his widower father, and the spacious double-page spreads, with dark lines and warm shades of brown and red, show the bond between father and son. Then bad times come, and Baba is sent to a labor camp, while Tai Shan lives with Granny Wang in a nearby village. As secret signals to each other, the boy and his father fly their kites high in the sky. At first, they can meet on weekends, but then Baba is sent far away. True to the small boy’s viewpoint, the spare, poetic words capture the action as the kites “rise and dive, soaring and hanging together”; the emptiness of being apart; and the final, joyful reunion. Even young readers will see the kite flying as a metaphor for freedom. A great choice for classroom sharing and discussion. Grades 1-3. --Hazel Rochman