A Look at Beyond the Great Mountains    Ed Young's (2005) Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem About China immediately shifts its presentation to the reader. The book takes a 90 degree turn and opens from bottom to top, extending the vertical line of the full layout. The quality and nature of rice paper in terms of texture, color, and origin meshes with the poetry's cultural origins of China. Artist, Ed Young, made excellent decisions that create great depth in meaning beyond the pages of the book.    In terms of technical choices, the rice paper collage brings about a gentle movement with the texture and color. The journey begins with the end pages at the front of the book setting the beginning with the hazy, rice paper cloud covering all but the mountain top. As the pages turn upward, the story reveals itself as if the clouds are drifting away. The pages are cut at graduated lengths which seem like an archeological dig in exploring the land of China. The colors of the pages are like a foreshadowing of the plot of the poem; the cool earthy colors climax toward color (calming green followed by a gently exciting purple) and then begins to ease into warmer earthly colors. On the edges of the graduated pages, the lines of the poem are written with simple, softly rounded capital letters which keep in the gentle mood of the heavenly gift.    As the pages are turned upward by each line of the poem, the starting point from the distant mountain top or the heavens moves vertically downward toward the earth to the close ups of nature (plants). In a circular like fashion, the end of the poem brings the story back to the heavens as if the past is a part of the present bringing the reader to the author's note telling about his stance and vision of the story. The last, end pages show the Chinese characters that were used in the book and compare the ancient (circa 500 B. C.) and modern characters. The Chinese characters also play a pictorial role in the story without overwhelming the affect of the rice paper collage illustrations.    In design choices, the strong vertical, downward effect of movement from heaven to earth is accentuated by the way the book opens and captures nature and the basic elements of soil, water, metal, and fire. The last page brings the reader almost back to heaven as it refers back to the sky and moon in a glimpse. The rice paper helps to soften some of the vertical lines by the ragged edges and uneven texture for a cloudy appearance such as the rain, hemp, and the Middle Empire pages. Working with the paper is the colors.    The colors have an earthy, peaceful quality. The page with the granite background (wine) loses some of the coldness of the rock because the granite while adding texture has a gentle hint of warm gray. As a contrast, the page of fire and ice (opposites) opens the color palette and acts as a climax with non-earth tone colors taking a central focus. The colors then begin to gently quiet down back to earth-tones with a just small climax on the sunset-like bird page. Grounded in warm, earthly colors, the poem closes with a glance toward the heavens. All the time, working with the colors is the rice paper.    The texture of the rice paper adds to the movement and tone of the pictures. The ridges and crevices of the mountain are landscaped by the tones and textures of the brown paper. The paper serves the branches and trunk of the tree with a feeling of bark along with the stringiness of the hemp and the rough, crystal quality of salt. The multi-tone back ground paper adds motion contrasting the flat color of the wine bottle and allowing the round-like bottle to stand out as stable yet as a breakable piece of pottery against the granite. On the other hand, the paper's motion is gentle and soft like the clouds covering the mountains on the end pages. Another gentle strength is found with the muted lines on the bamboo.    Together the colors and nature of the paper draws a nature-like touch and brings the poem from the heaves to earth in a peaceful, serene manner. The pictorial layout's simplicity makes the bold statements stand out quietly and each layout can stand on its own statement yet still pulls together as a whole piece (poem and book). The print values the illustrations power in emotion and quietly stay at the bottom of the page where another treasure is found. The transition of symbols to Chinese characters is present (with a summary at the back end pages).    In terms of cultural conventions, the use of rice paper, lines of a Chinese poem, and the history of calligraphy are united together by the historical basic elements of fire, water, earth, and metal. Bamboo, jade, salt, wine, and rice are just a few of the items that have meaning (symbolism) in the Chinese culture. For example, the bamboo represents strength and flexibility. There is complicated, rich blend of symbolism; yet throughout the book, there is a sense of the appreciation of nature and the simple things in life.    There is much depth and meaning yet to explore in the book. At first glance the simplicity of the pictures captures the eyes but a closer look reveals many of the aesthetic treasures rich with meaning and symbolism. It is also a book that is a feast for the mind. Contributor: Carrie Hung Reviews Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem about China Written and illustrated by Ed Young.    We must turn this stunning book on its side to read it, but when we do, and open it, all fifteen lines of the text of Young's poem are visible on the bottom edges of the pages that grow longer as each displays a line. The words describe the aspects of Middle Empire China--rivers, cliffs, crops, and seasons. As each page is lifted, the visual poem for that line is revealed. And for each, one or more small ancient Chinese characters are shown in red, with components translated, and the form incorporated into the larger illustration. As the pages are lifted, a fresh, somewhat larger image formed from cut, torn, and painted paper appears. It is of nature, but abstract, impressionistic, emotion-provoking. Part of our experience is the effort to see the visual relationship between the lines of text, the Chinese characters, and the images Young has produced. These are so compelling, their naturalistic references so ephemeral, that we are chiefly enthralled by the visuals. With the carefully-designed jacket, cover, and textured paper, this book is a work of art to enjoy again and again, complete with a list and translation of the ancient characters and their modern equivalents. 2005, Chronicle Books, $17.95. Ages 6 up. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature). Best Books: Best Children's Books, 2005; Publishers Weekly; United States Children's Book Sense Picks, Winter 2005-2006 ; Independent Booksellers Association; United States Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, September 19, 2005; Cahners; United States ISBN: 0-8118-4343-2 Added 4/18/2006