Chinatown. City within a city. Home to street cobblers and herbalists, tai chi masters and kung fu students, outdoor fish markets and lots and lots of restaurants. And best of all, when the Chinese New Year begins there's a New Year's Day parade, complete with a lion dance.
Young readers will be equally fascinated by the tour of this colorful neighborhood—and by their tour guide and his grandma who live there.
William Low is the illustrator of Stargone John by Ellen Kindt McKenzie, Lily by Abigail Thomas, and Good Morning City by Elaine Moore. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design and a four-time winner of the Society of Illustrators silver medal, Mr. Low now teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, not too far from Chinatown. He lives with his wife, illustrator Margaret Hewitt, on Long Island, New York.
"In Chinatown, a young boy goes for a walk with his grandmother and describes the sights and the people on the busy streets. Delivery trucks, tai chi students, ducks hanging in the food store, fresh snapping crabs, and crowds watching the Chinese New Year celebration are vividly brought to life in full-page, vibrant oil paintings. This is a warm introduction to an urban community that captures images of interest to a child, from a child's perspective. The text reads aloud nicely, making this title useful for picture-book programs. While the setting is New York City's Chinatown, the stores, signs, and activities could be in any Chinese community across the U.S."
--Susan Pine, New York Public Library
