Bring "Daisy" to your home!

By Anne Meneely

Whether you've read a book by author Jan Brett or not, you will want to pick up a copy of her latest book.  Daisy Comes Home.  The beautifully illustrated story takes readers on the Li River and through the beautiful countryside of China.  The main character is Mei Mei, a little girl who has the six happiest hens in China.  She gives them fresh hay and baths, and when she calls them, they all run to her as fast as they can.  But one of the hens, Daisy, is not so happy.  She is the smallest of the hens and doesn't like being picked on.  One night Daisy is asleep in a basket when it drifts onto the river.  Thus begins Daisy's adventure.

Jan and her husband, Joe Hearne, traveled with their daughter-in-law Yu, and her husband to China where Yu was born.  As they sailed down the Li River in the Guangxi Province, Jan was reminded of a favorite story from her childhood, The Story of Ping.  But what made a lasting impression on Jan was the river itself with mountains in unusual shapes towering above and small villages along the way with their colorful markets.

...and more raves about "Daisy"

by Beth Coogan

When we saw Jan Brett at Barnes and Noble in Ladue recently, she told us that she went to China to get ideas about the story and illustrations for Daisy Comes Home.  Since her illustrations are so detailed, seeing the country firsthand was important.

Her research shows in the colorful cotton clothing of the children, styles of dwellings and the varieties of goods at the marketplace. Brett includes detailed borders on each page of her books and in "Daisy" she uses blue and white designs of porcelain and strips of bamboo for Chinese motifs. 

My daughter Grace likes the tiny pictures on the outside corner of each page that hint at what happened before and after the scene on each page.  Grace also pointed out that "most of the animals of the Chinese zodiac are in the story."  We also learned from the author that in China chickens are called by saying, "Gu-gu-gu-gu-gu!"  So now we know how to speak to chickens in Chinese!

We've added Daisy Comes Home to our list of favorite stories set in China.