Scroll

A girl of Chinese descent finds adventure via a calligraphy brush in Li’s clever debut, which kicks off with a description of Chinese characters’ believed origins. Lulu and her dog Dumpling watch Grandpa paint on a scroll as he explains, “Our ancestors created many characters just like drawings.” With Grandpa napping in a nearby chair, Lulu accidentally knocks a large scroll to the floor, creating a blank expanse that inspires her to paint the Chinese character for door. When it unexpectedly animates, Lulu enters and meets the character for bird, which guides her through a “village of Chinese characters, like the ones Grandpa drew.” And when danger threatens, Lulu must paint new symbols to protect herself and Dumpling. Chinese characters embellished with color and detail illustrate ideogram-based language, and red seals at the top of each page smartly introduce each new term and its meaning. Hand-rendered watercolor, colored pencil, and Chinese ink art offers a visual feast via energetic brushwork and transparent pools of color. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)