Ying Chang Compestine’s newest book brings Mao’s Cultural Revolution to devastating life

Lafayette author Ying Chang Compestine understands that China’s Cultural Revolution might not be an obvious topic for an illustrated children’s book.

But Compestine isn’t the first writer to use a children’s book to introduce young readers to an important time in history or to help them understand a sensitive topic. And the prolific author has written about this dark time in China’s history before. Her award-winning, 2007 young adult novel, “Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party,” is a fictionalized...