Tai Chi Morning

A har­mo­nious blend of trav­el­ogue, sketch­book, and poet­ic reflec­tions, this offer­ing will be enjoyed for its con­tent and its teach­ing poten­tial. In 1988, Grimes trav­eled to Chi­na with a the­ater group and record­ed her impres­sions of the coun­try. Teth­ered by her African Amer­i­can roots, she paints her per­son­al visions of a par­tic­u­lar area or expe­ri­ence in a nar­ra­tive para­graph, and then knits the ideas togeth­er into a poem on the fac­ing page. She con­sid­ers the polit­i­cal strife of Chi­na, and the world at large. She mus­es about meet­ing a Mon­go­lian moth­er and child whose fea­tures and cloth­ing remind her of Swedish Lap­lan­ders and Amer­i­can Eski­mos, “… which got me think­ing how inter-relat­ed we human beings are. It seems we’re all con­nect­ed some­where down the line. Why is it that we only see our dif­fer­ences?” Young’s sim­ple art­work com­ple­ments Grimes’ elo­quent images. The reedy pen-and-ink draw­ings deft­ly cap­ture the exot­ic and ancient cul­ture of the coun­try. While the author and illus­tra­tor worked inde­pen­dent­ly of one anoth­er, the book has a col­lab­o­ra­tive effect. The evoca­tive poet­ry and per­sua­sive sketch­es cre­ate a col­lage of a land and peo­ple as dif­fer­ent, unusu­al, ancient, and humane as our own. Beyond its obvi­ous use for pro­vid­ing a mul­ti­fac­eted pic­ture of Chi­na, this sparse gem is also a per­fect choice to demon­strate jour­nal writ­ing. It will pro­vide inspi­ra­tion for poet­ry and cre­ative writ­ing. Black-and-white snap­shots appear through­out. (Ali­son Fol­los, School Library Jour­nal)