One by Ed Young

Many of you have probably read one or more books by Ed Young. Young's books are particularly memorable for their beautiful illustrations, especially if you have a special fondness for dreamy, ethereal effects. That is true of his Caldecott award-winning Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China. For those of you with some familiarity with Mandarin Chinese, Lon Po Po, is recognizable as "lang popo 狼婆婆," or "wolf grandmama." The subtitle gives a thematic explanation.

Indeed, Lon Po Po's narrative is driven by a wolf in disguise attempting to take advantage. In this instance, three sisters together outwit their terrifying visitor. Young's illustrations take us from a peach-colored sunset when the mother gives careful instruction to her daughters as she departs from home. Nighttime is deep purple and black and indistinct grey shadows. The girls' eyes sparkle with alertness and apprehension; the wolf's eye is shifty and ghastly. With the girls' clever triumph over the craven creature, light—and with it calm—returns to the pictures.

Young's colors envelop the reader, and color is what we first appreciate. But Young is equally attentive to shape (note the extraordinary silhouette of falling wolf) and to composition (the illustrations are sometimes independent square format, sometimes separated-yet-linked panels, like a set of Chinese hanging scrolls or a Japanese folding screen).

Folktales are timeless, and Young's version of Lon Po Po shares in that quality.

Ed Young
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
Philomel Books, 1989