The Story of Paper - Hardcover

Ying Chang Compestine was born in China and later moved to the United states. She is the author of The Runaway Rice Cake and several cookbooks, including Cooking with Green Tea. Ms. Compestine got the idea for The Story of Chopsticks by watching her young son eat with his chopsticks. She lives in Colorado. The "Story of Paper" is her fourth book about the Kang family.

YongSheng Xuan is a distinguished artist throughout the Chinese and North American art community. He has worked in a variety of categories including oil painting, acrylic painting, pottery, sculpture, paper cutting, illustrations, and ceramic painting. Having studied and worked in both Eastern and Western cultures, Xuan's ability to merge and celebrate cultural differences has won him a great deal of praise. This ability, combined with working in such a variety of media, enables him to design for wide variety of audiences. Currently living in Royal Oak, Michigan, Xuan provides illustrations for children's books and magazine through the publisher Holiday House, as well as Spider and Cricket Magazine, Sinorama Magazine in Taiwan, and others. In additional to illustration work, Xuan provides art seminars to local colleges.

PreSchool-Grade 3-The irrepressible Kang boys are now credited with the invention of paper. The three brothers struggle to concentrate on their math as they write their answers on the ground with sticks, an early Chinese method of doing schoolwork, but playing with bugs distracts them. Annoyed, their teacher prints a note to their parents on each of their hands and admonishes them to hold their arms in the air so the ink will dry without smudging. Ting, Pan, and K—ai try to hide the messages as they race through the village, but everyone they pass asks to read what the schoolmaster has written. Their shame leads to a search for something better to write on. While helping Mama make mash for rice cakes, K—ai suggests that they soak their mother's silk sewing scraps the same way. After several days of waiting and vigorous mashing, the boys pour the pulp into the trays used to drain mashed rice. Now they have an invention that will keep their teacher's comments a secret from prying eyes. Cut-paper illustrations are a fitting accompaniment to this amusing account of the discovery of papermaking. With bold black outlines and vivid coloration against a white, marbled background, the artwork captures the action as the boys exercise their ingenuity. Endnotes include information about the origin of paper and simple instructions for making it in a mason jar.
Laurie Edwards, West Shore School District, Camp Hill, PA
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