About the Author

With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.

Reviews

Brett, known for her intricate designs and her engaging artwork, outdoes herself in this story set in modern-day China. (Booklist, starred review)

The elegance of the illustrations gains a touch of whimsy as Brett hides some surprises in the distant mountains. (Publishers Weekly)

PreS-Gr 3-In a tale reminiscent of Marjorie Flack's The Story about Ping (Viking, 1933), the smallest hen in Mei Mei's chicken house can't compete each evening for her spot on the perch. One rainy night, Daisy decides to sleep outside, and she settles down in one of Mei Mei's market baskets, which is picked up by the rain-swollen Li River. Carried downstream, she has many adventures until she is caught by an enterprising fisherman who plans to sell her in the market. Of course, she is rescued by her determined owner in a daring escape scene. Brett's tale is clever and contains many authentic elements-varied Chinese people in modern clothing, fruits and vegetables, typical architecture from the area, etc. However, some of the market scenes are a bit old-fashioned, and not all of the Chinese characters on the baskets are correct. As is typical of Brett's work, the pages are full of detail and often overdecorative, and the small pictures in the slanting sidebars distract from the dramatic, bold watercolors. The karsts, oddly shaped mountains found near the Li River, are drawn to resemble animals, which takes attention away from the main focus of the illustrations. Still, this lively story will be popular with young readers who won't mind a tale that reflects China as seen by an admiring American visitor.-Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.