The Little Stone Lion

Xiong's first appearance in English is a quiet elegy to village life in China, narrated by one of many statues of mythical guardian lions that dot the Chinese countryside. The lion of the title is the silent keeper of the village's memories: "Although I'm smaller than a cat, I'm older than even the oldest village elder.... I remember all the people and all that has happened." Xiong depicts the stone narrator closing its eyes and tilting its head, a contented smile on its face, while tiny figures from the past fly upward across the spread—a man steering a boat, an ox still wearing its harness, a silver-haired grandmother. The spare and whimsical illustrations, which appear to be in charcoal and watercolor wash on textured paper, show the statue and the appealingly lumpy figures of the villagers under a full moon, blown by autumn winds and surrounded by snowflakes. "Children grow up and leave the village," the lion continues, as a bus pulls away from a bus stop. "Maybe they will forget me... But I will remember them and miss them." Xiong shows the lion from above, the memories of children with butterfly nets, umbrellas and glowing lanterns swirling above it; a single tear quivers at the corner of its eye. "I won't forget anyone," it promises. The book's theme of an object whose virtue is that it never changes may vex those who hanker for heroes and action. Meditative readers, though, may find themselves unexpectedly moved by Xiong's work. Ages 5-up. (Dec.)