Growing Up under a Red Flag by Ying Chang Compestine

Growing Up under a Red Flag introduces China’s Cultural Revolution in a way picture-book readers can understand.

Growing Up under a Red Flag: A Memoir of Surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Xinmei Liu. Rocky Pond Books (PRH), 2024, 40 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 8-10

The author was born in Wuhan, China, only three years before Mao Zedong launched an overhaul of Chinese society called the “Cultural Revolution.” At first her parents, both doctors, were allowed to practice their profession in peace, but soon a member of the Red Brigade, Comrade Li, established residence in her father’s very office. The Red Brigade was a rabid quasi-military band of enforcers, mostly recruited from high school; their mission was to patrol streets and homes making sure everyone adhered to Mao’s rules. This meant wearing the drab Chinese Communist uniform, carrying a copy of Mao’s “Little Red Book,” and adhering to the party line at all times. Detractors were beat up in the streets, then sent to prison. Such was the fate of Ying’s father.

Her story had a happy ending. After ten years, Mao died, his wife failed to seize power for herself, and the Cultural Revolution ended. The Chang family was reunited and Ying realized her dream of immigrating to the US. This picture book, with its angry faces and themes of separation and hardship, might be disturbing for very young readers. For older ones, roughly in grades 3-6, it’s a good way to introduce this sad chapter in Chinese history. The full-page illustrations carry the story well, in a style reminiscent of Communist propaganda posters.

Bottom Line: An accurate, age-appropriate picture of government oppression.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: More about the Cultural Revolution for older readers: Little White Duck (warning: marketed toward younger grades but very sad),  Girl under a Red Moon and Dragonfly Eyes (both for teens; latter is a starred review).
• Reviews: For the more uplifting side of Chinese culture and history, see Chinese Menu, China through Time and Born Naughty.
• Resource: Authority vs. Anarchy has been a continuing conflict throughout history. To help teens get a handle on how to think about it, see our booklist.We are participants in the Amazon LLC affiliate program; purchases you make through affiliate links like the one below may earn us a commission. Read more here.

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