Beautiful Book

We have begun a study of China-- geography, history, and culture. I am right now reading Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng, so the Cultural Revolution is on my mind. Maybe that seems a strange place to begin history with the girls, but since I am studying it myself, it is fresh on my mind and I can teach it better now. I am determined my daughters will know the truth about the history of their native country.

I wondered, are there books for children on the Cultural Revolution? Yes! We've read two so far. My favorite is a beautifully written and illustrated memoir called Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow. The story is tender and poetic, with nothing too disturbing for children. We also read Mao and Me by Chen Jiang Hong, a true story about the author's childhood and his family during this time. This book is a little more graphic, but considering we have been reading about our own bloody Civil War, the book was appropriate for my girls.

I also found a book called Sparrow Girl by Sara Pennypacker. It is written like a folk tale about the time Mao declared sparrows the enemy of the farmer and announced The Great Sparrow Campaign to kill them all. Of course, this contributed to the great famine in China, but that is not addressed in the book. It is sweet story about a little girl who hides some birds in a barn over the winter.

I just searched the library website of our local inter-county loan system (it's fabulous for homeschooling moms) and ordered a few more books about other periods of Chinese history. The girls remember the stories of real people. Facts and dull text are soon forgotten.