Age: K-2nd grade
Culture: China
History: Chinese Revolution

Tai Shan and his father, Baba, love to fly kites. When China's cultural revolution spreads throughout the land, Baba is taken away to a labor camp because the revolutionaries don't agree with his ideas. Tai Shan and Baba then communicate with their kites, Tai Shan on top of a hill and Baba in the camp. One day, Baba's kite does not appear. When it does not appear the next day, Tai Shan begins to worry for his father.

I love the motif of the kites that helps to carry a complex story along. However, I wish that we could have seen more of what Baba was doing (or not doing) to incite the anger of the revolutionaries. I know that 1st and 2nd graders will want to know why.