Personal Review:

Mei Li is often told that she's just a girl and not valued. The story is somewhat fragmented and choppy. The action jumps from a scene with an acrobat to one with a bear to another with actors and yet another with circus performers and eventually with a skinny priest. In the end, her family comes looking for her and tells her that she is their princess when she lives within the walls of their house. If nothing else, Mei Li tells the tale of cultural values from long ago.

Even though it is dated, it still has the power to interest the children that read it. Set in 1939 China, the images and story presented here will last for all time. A beautiful little picture book full of classic illustrations. ( )

Young Mei Li disobeys her parents and the traditions of her society by following her brother into the walled city the morning before New Year's Day. The story takes place in China almost a century ago, and readers will delight in this little girl's adventure into the city as well as her attempts to leave the city before the gates close for the night! Mei Li is both curious and brave, and readers will relate to her attempts to prove herself worthy of the trip in her big brother's eyes. The realistic black and white illustrations coincide perfectly with the text, and young listeners will take their time absorbing the details of this foreign time and place. Both author and artist, Handforth lived in China for several years, and claimed that the story was based on a real Chinese girl. Beyond the Chinese cultural markers, children will identify with Mei Li's young spirit. A must for elementary school libraries and art libraries. ( )

This book is about set in the Chinese culture. It is about a little girl who wanted to go to the fair that was being held in the city. But, she was told that she was too young to attend, so she snuck out and decided to go with her brother. She wanted to convince her brother that there were things that a girl could do at the fair. She goes along proving this to him for a while; when suddenly things begin to happen that scare her. She becomes frightened over some things her brother was doing to her. The story ends as they make it back to the house before the gate closes in order for them to be there when the Kitchen God arrives.

I thought this book was..."okay." For some reason I wasn't able to "get into" it. I did think that it was very culturally specific. It described the Chinese culture and had pictures and descriptions of some of the things from their culture. I thought it did show alot about the Chinese culture, and it was from a child's perspective.

This book could be used when studying different cultures in the classroom. It would be a great way to introduce something about the Chinese culture. Another idea would be to use this book to describe the differenes in the fair described in the book, and the fairs that students may be familiar with here in the U.S.