Chinese / People's Republic of China
Yi tiao da he
(The river)
Yu, Dawu
(text/illus.)
Beijing: Zhong guo shao nian er tong chu ban she (China Children’s Press & Publication Group), 2019. – 43 p. + [10] p.
(Series: Jiu shen lu hui ben guan)
ISBN 978-7-5148-5551-7
Yellow River | China | Geography | Culture | Picture book | Non-fiction
Reading age: 4+
White Ravens issue: 2020
This picture book is a geographical and cultural introduction to the Yellow River (Huang He), referred to by the Chinese as “Mother River” from its source on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to its mouth at the Yellow Sea on the other side of the country. It is told through the river’s perspective and voice, giving the narrative a certain childlike liveliness and playfulness. The illustrations are creative combinations of oil painting techniques and the wide-scope perspectives of traditional Chinese painting, displaying the grandness of the river as well as the people living alongside it. Yu Dawu is known for his illustrations for “Xi you ji” (Journey to the West) and “Nezha nao hai” (Nezha's triumph against Dragon King), which won the 1989 Asia-Pacific Children’s Books Illustration Prize of the Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO. His works have been featured in exhibitions around the world. “Yi tiao da he”, created in the artist’s seventies, turned out to be one of the highlights in the emerging trend of non-fiction writing for young children in China. [FW, ZX]