ED YOUNG was born in Tientsin, China, grew up in Shanghai, and came to the United States when he was in his late teens. A graduate of the University of Illinois and the Los Angeles Art Center, he has illustrated many beautiful books for young people, among them The Emperor and the Kite, a Coldecott Honor Book (written by Jane Yolen); Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes (translated by Robert Wyndham); The Terrible Mung Gwama: A Chinese Folktale; Bo Rabbit Smart for True: Folktales from the Gullah (by Priscilla Jaquith); and High on a Hill: A Book of Chinese Riddles. The artwork for Yeh-Shen was more than two years in the making, and Mr. Young made two trips to China to do his careful research into the traditional costumes and customs of the people in the area in which this tale is set.