The Water Dragon

Gr 1–4—This bilingual legend tells the story of kind and generous Ah Bao, who finds a magical red stone that multiplies what it touches, creating food and wealth for the boy, which he happily shares with neighbors. He learns that the stone absorbs water, and that there has been a terrible drought since he started using it. He dreams of a water dragon bringing rain to the land, and so he sets off to find it. As he journeys, he encounters various animals that need his assistance. Each one gifts him with a small token and warns him to be careful of the greedy red monster he will soon encounter. Ah Bao meets the monster and swallows the red stone as he flees. The magic stone, combined with the tokens he received from the animals, transforms him into the kind and generous Water Dragon. The paintings are a fantastic blend of traditional Chinese style and composition with modern appeal. Ah Bao is rosy-cheeked and button-eyed, while the world he lives in is full of heavy outlines, loose brushstrokes, and cool, earth-tone color washes reminiscent of ancient Chinese scroll paintings. On a few pages the text is printed over the art, making one page in particular quite difficult to read. A first purchase for folktale collections, especially those looking for tales outside the European tradition.—Anna Haase Krueger, Antigo Public Library, WI