The Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan

An action-packed picture book biography about Hollywood actor, stuntman, and beloved superstar Jackie Chan! A great read for Chan fans hoping to share their love of Rush Hour, Supercop, and Jackie's original brand of martial arts with their ready-to-tumble tyke.\nPow! Bam! Wow!\nJackie Chan has been making movies and amazing audiences with his original and comedic stunts for decades.\nPow! Bam! Ow!\nBut before he was an international star, Jackie grew up in relative poverty in China, studied martial arts at the grueling China Drama Academy, and worked for years trying to find his way in film.\nPow! Bam! How?\nTwist, tumble, and train alongside martial arts hero Jackie Chan in this picture book biography from lauded author Kristen Mai Giang and illustrator and Hong Kong native Alina Chau. Discover how Jackie used his goofball acrobatics to make a name and a style all his own.\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 2-4-This staid picture book biography chronicles the life of stunt man and movie star Jackie Chan. Young Jackie practiced kung fu each morning with his father, but he was initially not a dedicated student, growing up as the class goofball and resistant to anything requiring discipline. His parents moved to Australia in the hope of building a better life, while Jackie stayed behind at the China Drama Academy to train for the opera, where he was a student for 10 years focusing on acting, fighting, and acrobatics. This period in his life instilled him with perseverance and dedication to his craft. As the opera lost popularity in China, Jackie found work as a martial arts stunt man. The text, covering a lot very quickly, is accompanied by watercolor illustrations in a calm palette of greens and yellows. Any questions readers have about the difficult periods in Jackie's life, such as the separation from his family, are likely to be answered in the more detailed author's note in the back matter, which also includes a thoughtful glossary of Chinese characters with phonetic Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations. VERDICT This should find a home in many larger biography collections.-Lauren Youngerα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.