Summoning the Phoenix

Poems and Prose About Chinese Musical Instruments
By Emily Jiang, April Chu
Hardcover: $19.95

A collection of original poems about children learning to play traditional Chinese instruments in preparation for a performance, accompanied by factual information about each instrument.

Description

Every musician knows that learning to play an instrument has its challenges and its rewards. There’s the embarrassing first day of rehearsal, but also the joy of making friends in the orchestra. There’s dealing with slippery concert dress, or simply getting swept up in the music. The twelve children in this book are just like any other musicians practicing their instruments and preparing for a concert. But what sets these music lovers apart is that they all play traditional Chinese musical instruments in a Chinese orchestra.

Including both flights of fancy and practical considerations, lively poems capture each child’s musical experience with a different Chinese instrument, while sidebars provide more information about each one. Vivid illustrations depicting each fascinating instrument bring you along on this musical journey. And then you are invited to the grand finale!

About the Creators

Emily Jiang

Emily Jiang is the American-born daughter of Chinese American immigrants, and she has been writing poems and stories since she was five years old. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Saint Mary’s College of California and a BA in English from Rice University. Emily is also a musician and composer. She delights in painting with words and with sounds.

April Chu

April Chu began her career as an architect, but then decided to return to her true passion of illustrating and storytelling. She remembers coming home from school every day, spending hours drawing whimsical characters in her notebook, and creating outlandish stories while watching cartoons, and she hasn’t stopped drawing and creating stories since. April lives and works in Oakland, California.

Awards

  • Best Books

    Kirkus Reviews

  • CALA Book Award

    Chinese American Librarians Association

  • Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Award Silver

    California Reading Association

Reviews

  • * "Thirteen young musicians of diverse ethnic background ready themselves to play their traditional Chinese instruments on stage in this informative and gracefully illustrated twin debut. Jiang, a composer, presents upbeat, free-verse poems in the children's voices about their instruments or their mental states. . . From the booming paigu to the delicate strings of the ruan, the lutelike pipa and the yangqin, or hammered butterfly harp, a lively medley that will expand the musical boundaries of most young audiences."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "Traditional Chinese musical instruments take center stage in this encyclopedia that uses accessible poetry and magnificent artwork to educate and entertain. The children in these brilliantly detailed illustrations play mostly unfamiliar instruments, all of which are described in the corresponding column of text. The poem chronicling the students' preparation for their concert gives readers choices in how they wish to digest the book's wealth of information."

    - Foreword Reviews
  • "The exquisite paintings, the fascinating instruments and the feelings of the young musicians told in verse make Summoning the Phoenix a total artistic experience for readers of all ages."

    - Imperial Valley Press

Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781885008503
  • Price $19.95
  • Publication Date Apr 01, 2014
  • Trim Size 8.5 × 10.5 in
  • Weight 0.9375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 2076
  • Interests

  • Imprint Shen's Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JNF / Poetry / General
  • BISAC Category 2 JNF / Music / Instruments
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / People & Places / United States / AsianAmerican
  • Themes Asian / Asian American / AAPI, Cultural Diversity, Informational / Expository Nonfiction, Music, Nonfiction, Poetry
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 8 - 11
  • Grade Range Grades 3 - 6
  • Guided Reading T
  • ATOS Book Level 5.9
  • DRA 44
  • Interest Level Grades 3 - 6
  • Lexile Level 1080
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 5
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

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