Powerful like a dragon

Too young to understand the reason for the war but nevertheless affected by it, Shu Lok sets out with his family, minus his parents, into China in the wake of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941. Along the way, he experiences many hardships but finds the strength to endure from his baba's parting words: "Be powerful like a dragon." He adopts the dragons' noble spirit and tends to his travel companions, easing their mental and physical loads throughout the trek until the group finds refuge. Cheng's narration alternates between describing the sensory and emotional details of Shu Lok's day-to-day experiences and painting broader strokes that convey the vast geographic distance and extended timeline of the arduous journey. Tam's digital illustrations complement the text well, expanding and contracting in scope between close-ups of Shu Lok and his fellow travelers and landscapes that take up a full spread with the humans as tiny figures dwarfed by the terrain. The strategic use of lines for coloring and shading adds texture, depth, and movement to the illustrations. Sinuous shapes and suggestive shadows hiding in plain sight keep the dragon motif alive on pages where the creatures are not explicitly depicted. An author's note filling in the family history (Shu Lok is Cheng's uncle) and the historical context for the narrative is appended. Shenwei ChangJuly/August 2025 p.110 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In a story inspired by the author's family, a young child finds inner strength while fleeing after the sudden outbreak of war. Hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese army attacked British-ruled Hong Kong; following two weeks of fighting, the governor of Hong Kong surrendered to Japan. Many members of Cheng's family decided to leave, led by his grandfather and joined by the laborers his grandfather employed, including one named Ah Meng. Cheng's story focuses on his own uncle Shu Lok, who was just a boy at the time. "Be powerful like a dragon," Shu Lok's father tells him as he and several other children are placed into baskets and carried to safety. Shu Lok will need all his bravery; his parents have chosen to remain behind. Elegant in its simplicity, Cheng's narrative details the experience through the eyes of a vulnerable youngster--the hunger pangs that rack Shu Lok's belly, the bitterly freezing winds. But Ah Meng is there every step of the way, singing to soothe the frightened boy and covering the child with his own shirt on snowy nights. Tam's arresting, fine-lined illustrations evoke traditional Chinese paintings; she slowly introduces rich pops of color into her muted landscapes as Shu Lok remembers his father's words. When at last he sees the dragons, the symbolic manifestations of courage lift him from despair--and, as this tale comes to a satisfying close, empower him to buoy others. A beautifully rendered journey that offers insight into an often-overlooked chapter of history.(Picture book. 5-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.