Where The Mountain Meets The Moon

In this charming and delightful tale by Grace Lin, a young girl (we don't know how old), Minli, lives with her parents in a poor village in the shadow of Fruitless Mountain. The family toils all day and barely has enough to eat. But Minli gets perhaps greater sustenance from the stories her father tells, particularly about the Old Man of the Moon. Inspired by a goldfish, Minli sets out for the Neverending Mountain to find the Old Man of the Moon to ask how to change her family's fortune. Along the way she befriends a flightless dragon, speaks to the king of the City of Bright Moonlight, encounters the angry Green Tiger and meets the Happy Family, all of whom share their stories, based on themes from Chinese fairy tales, which help guide Minli on her quest (well, except for the Green Tiger, but we hear plenty of stories about him). The main story weaves in and out of the stories within the story and all are intertwined in a masterful and poetic way that makes the story both simple and yet profound. All the stories wrap up as a nice, tidy package, but not in a way that makes the book stilted, but rather like one of those 3-D wooden puzzles in which each piece, joined in the correct order, creates a perfect whole. The beautiful full-color illustrations blend seamlessly with the story and enhanced the enchanting quality of the book. As other reviewers have said, this is one of the best children's books I've ever read, perhaps in a class with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince". My only regret about the book is that my daughters are just a shade too young to share it with them quite yet* - I can't wait to do so! * The editorial reviews say that the book is for grades 3-6, but I think age 5 to 6 would be a perfect time for a parent to read this book to a child -while children are still young enough to be enchanged by the magic.

I almost didn't buy this book after reading a review titled "colorist trash"- as a brown person buying this to read to my brown child I thought forget it, there are better ways to spend my money. I ended up getting the second book of the trilogy (Starry River of the Sky) not realizing what I had done, that it was the same author or part of a set, and loved the book. When I came looking for the other two books in the trilogy, I remembered the "colorist" critique but decided to buy the book anyway since the first one was so well written, interesting, compassionate and empathic that I figured I needed to read the book to decide for myself what it was or was not. So here's the thing, I've read the book and loved it as much as the first one, my 7 y.o. has loved it as well, but the part of not being "dull and brown" is there and its meaning seems clear cut. There is also another passage in the book where another little girl is being described as beautiful and very white and it almost seems as if she's beautiful because she is so white. This may seem like a minor detail to some, but it’s not when you're a brown person reading this to a brown child. Since it was me reading aloud, I skipped the noxious parts and problem solved. I don't know why this "dull and brown" and "beautiful and white" parts needed to be included. I want to believe the author is neither racist nor colorist and my guess is that she was trying to say something else, like the girl has not accepted the fate of being buried in mud like the rest of the villagers have, or, the beautiful girl resembles the moon in its beauty, since the moon is such a big part of the story, but if that is what she meant it could have been said differently. Maybe the words reflect the "leaking" of some of the colorist/racist attitudes and beliefs that exist among people of color, as a brown person I can attest to that and it is heartbreaking and inexplicable. Some of these beliefs are so deeply and unconsciously held that I can see someone writing these words without stopping to think about their meaning. I don't take colorist remarks lightly, especially when the message is directed at children, as it is here. That said, I still would not pass on this book based on those remarks because they make up .0001% of the book and the rest is so worth it. The heroine is a brave, curious, imaginative, quick witted girl (a big plus if your l.o. is a girl too), it intertwines magic and reality in a seamless, beautiful way, and exposes readers to a different culture. In the midst of #StopAsianHate books like these are even more relevant and necessary because "Asian" may mean nothing to a child who is not, but for my child Rendi is a personal hero, as is Minli and that, I hope, will eventually make a dent on racism, colorism and intolerance. That's my two cents. Skip over the two phrases if you're a parent doing the reading, and if you have an older child, the phrases may be good conversation starters about colorist beliefs and attitudes, how they creep on you where and when you least expect it, their null validity and the amazing damage they cause if unchecked. As an FYI I found a small article online where author Grace Lin addresses this issue titled "No one gets a pass when writing multicultural books."

This is the first time I’ve read a book that paints a clear image in my mind. There is a combination of detailed description of the setting and the characters’ feelings and figurative language (makes it fun to read) as well. The story has many things you can’t predict, and I just loved the overall plot and the intriguing adventures Minli (the main character) goes on, facing obstacles but also making new friends along the way. I 10/10 absolutely recommend reading this book!

Be aware that this was listed as #28 in comics and graphic novels for kids - and it is neither. It’s a reader and if your kids are expecting more visuals, they will be disappointed. Fortunately my kid was happy with the book and started it. Bad advertising from Amazon.

I am still deeply impressed by the chinese paper cuts (reminding me of my collection of paper cuts 30 years ago), the beautiful paintings and the wonderful tale. I took it with me into hospital and I finished it within one day - because I could not stop reading. I have just ordered another 2 books as presents to dear friends who love the English language, too. You need not be perfect in English to understand and enjoy the book.

Grace é sino-americana e seus livros geralmente são repletos de tradições chinesas. Esse não foi diferente. Minli vive uma família e vila muito pobre. Inconformada com a sua "fortuna" parte um jornada fantástica para obter resposta sobre como ter uma vida melhor. Como pode-se notar pela capa um dragão a acompanhará. Cada capítulo traz um mini-estória dentro, que é narrada por um dos personagens. Uma estória que encanta e nos toca. Esse é o primeiro livro da trilogia, mas pode ser lido a parte sem problemas. A leitura foi fácil, pois a autora uma um vocabulário bem simples. Eu li em português (fazia a tradução durante a leitura) para meu filho de 6 anos. Gostou bastante. Fiquei surpreso pela qualidade do livro. A capa é comum, sem orelhas, mas ela e as imagens no interior são de uma qualidade surpreendente. O papel das folhas é super bom. Paguei 34,00, mas agora que conheço o material acho que vale uns 40,00. Boa leitura!

He aquí un libro ideal para iniciar en la lectura a niños de unos 7 u 8 años a los que "no les gusta leer" (a mi me gusta pensar que a todo el mundo le gusta leer, es sólo que a veces no han encontrado el libro adecuado). Pues bien este Where the Mountain Meets the Moon es un libro que atrapa a los niños. La protagonista es una joven llamada Minli que iniciará un viaje para tratar de cambiar el destino de su aldea. A lo largo del libro, Minli se va encontrando con diversos personajes, cada uno de ellos le cuenta un cuento (cada cuento suele ser cortito, de 2 a 5 páginas). Por tanto tenemos una especie de "Las mil y unas noches", salvo por una diferencia: aquí los cuentos están relacionados con la aventura de Minli. El libro me ha encantado, ahora va el tema de la edad. Si un niño es perfectamente bilingüe lo puede leer con 7 años perfectamente. Si va justito de inglés, será mejor esperar a los 9 años y va a poder disfrutar de él sólo con ayuda del diccionario. Una persona con nivel medio va a encontrar una media de 6 palabras por página que desconoce, de las cuales podrá sacar el significado por el contexto de unas 4 de ellas. Si algún día se publica en castellano, a partir de 7 años sería ideal. Y si tu hijo no lee, sólo tienes que leerle los 3 primeros capítulos y ya verás como él mismo se anima a seguir.

The story and illustrations are magical. I am excited to read the novel together with my nephew when he visits.