Yulu’s Linen

In this finely wrought picture book portrait of the artistic process, a canvas of “yu-lu-ma—rain-dew linen” seems destined for young Yulu’s brushes, so her father, a frustrated artist who’s nurtured her talent, buys it for her first self-portrait. But when Yulu wakes up the morning after creating a work that both of her parents admire, the picture is “a disaster, as if the colors had run all over the canvas during the night,” writes Wenxuan (Summer). Lee (See You Someday Soon) portrays Yulu’s family and home in muted digitally finished charcoal and wash against which the canvas blazes with vibrant, almost taunting colors. Every day, Yulu paints the portrait again, only to be met with the same result. Her father at last castigates the linen, and her mother, worried about her daughter’s health, tosses it. But Yulu retrieves the canvas, paints her portrait for the eighth time, then walks away—and days later, she finds it smiling back. Printed on linen-textured paper, this story of making, part folktale, part love letter to hanging in there, honors the work and wonder at the heart of creation. Characters read as East Asian; skin tones take each page’s background color. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)