Ling & Ting: Together in All Weather

June 21, 2010
Twins will find endearing advocates in Ling and Ting, Chinese-American twins who good-naturedly defy people's assumptions that they are interchangeable. "We are not exactly the same," Ling replies to this common comment. "Ting laughs because she is thinking exactly the same thing!" Six entertaining tales are blithesome slices of life that exemplify their uniqueness and companionability. In the first, Ting and Ling get haircuts, but "Ling can always sit still. Snip! Clip! The barber cuts Ling's hair in a smooth line." Not so with Ting, who wiggles, sneezes, and ends up with an asymmetrical hairdo that unquestionably sets her apart. Each scenario––ranging from making dumplings to giggling over card tricks gone wrong––is captured in framed, photo-sized illustrations with old-fashioned charm. The girls wear identical, feminine dresses, again challenging the reader to look beyond exteriors. The final tale, a fantasy spun by Ting, tells of spurning a king who cannot decide which of them to marry: " ‘But the twins told the king to go away. They were not exactly the same,' Ting says, ‘but they always stayed together.' " Ages 6-9.

Starred review from January 1, 2016
In this fourth book in the sweet and funny easy-reader series (Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same, rev. 7/10, and sequels), six brief chapters take the twins through the seasons, together. In the first story, a thunderstorm finds them hiding under a blanket: they are not scared, just surprised. On a hot summer day they sell all their lemonadeto each other. Raking leaves has to be done all over again, since first Ting's red hat and then Ling's might be at the bottom of the pile (later in the book, Ling's hat turns up, at first mistaken for an unusual spring flower). In the winter, Ting claims to be sick so she can avoid shoveling snow; Ling's recipe for some old Chinese medicine (a smelly simmering of onions, ginger, dirt, an old sock, etc.) drives a suddenly recovered Ting out of bed, snow shovel in hand. The final story finds the twins looking for a rainbow and finding two. They are twin rainbows! says Ting. Just like us!We are so lucky to be together! As always, the girls' personalities shine through in both text and illustrations (and Ting is still differentiated by her jagged bangs). Each chapter employs a different-color border around the bold gouache illustrations, giving the book a predictable and unifying visual structure. An artist's note says, The color palette was inspired by the sudden appearance of a bright rainbow on a gray, glum day. That's how the whole book feels. martha v. parravano

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)