A Lovely Chinese Fairy Tale

On the cover, a dark wolf stands against a sunset orange background. The outline of his body is not sharply drawn, but his form is clear. His head is turned toward the reader. He stares with stark white eyes, as if the illustrator forgot to draw each cornea and iris. The image is a bit unsettling.

I turn to the dedication page and see an impressionistic picture in pastel blues. Again, it's the staring wolf, but this time he is superimposed on the profile of a human being. The dedication reads, "To all the wolves of the world for lending their good name as a tangible symbol for our darkness!" Wow! Quite a sophisticated statement for a kid's book! Perhaps too much so? Luckily, a few sentences into the story itself, it's clear that this tale is perfectly suited to children.

"Lon Po Po," a Chinese fairy tale translated and illustrated by Ed Young, tells a story similar to "Little Red Riding Hood." But there's no red hood, no walk in the woods, and the basket doesn't contain food for Grandma. Instead, young sisters Shang, Tao, and Paotze, use their wits (and the basket) when confronted with a conniving wolf that invades their home.

The wolf overhears the children's mother leave to visit Grandmother (Po Po) on her birthday. Mother will be gone overnight, so the children must latch the door and be careful. At night, the cunning wolf pretends to be Po Po, who's come for a visit, supposedly barely missing the mother on the way. The unsuspecting children let the wolf in.

Then begins a discovery process that is reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood's, "Grandma, what big teeth you have!" In the darkened room, Shang, the oldest sister, feels the wolf's tail and his claws, and receives vague answers when she questions him about them. Finally, catching a glimpse of his face, she realizes the truth. Shang devises a plan, and with the aid of her sisters, outwits the wolf.

The story is told in typical fairy tale style, with simple and sometimes stilted language (e.g., the mother says, "Be good while I am away, my heart-loving children; I will not return tonight.") This is much more noticeable when read aloud, but sets a tone that this tale is something from another time. The text is simple, with few frills. Another familiar device often used in fairy tales – the rule of threes – is present: three sisters, three questions to the wolf before the children admit him to their home, three things about the wolf that seem wrong (tail, claws, face), and finally, three attempts to do away with the wolf.

The story has an element of suspense, especially when the disguised wolf cuddles in bed with the three sisters before Shang discovers his identity. I found only one flaw in the plot – why would a mother leave her children alone and unprotected, overnight, in an area inhabited by wild animals? Oh, well, this is a fairy tale – it's not meant to be taken literally.

The comparison to "Little Red Riding Hood" is inevitable, but there are major differences. In that European tale, Red spills the beans to the wolf about where she's going and why she's going there, thereby setting up her own demise. In "Lon Po Po," the children have no such flaw that invites the danger they face. In "Little Red Riding Hood," a woodsman comes to Red's rescue and kills the wolf – sometimes before she's eaten and sometimes after, depending upon the version you read. In "Lon Po Po," the children actively save themselves by outsmarting the wolf through teamwork. There is a definite moral in Red's story: don't talk to strangers. For Shang and her sisters, the theme is different: good wins over evil.

Ed Young's illustrations are impressionistic and unusual. The shapes have soft outlines, often blending with one another. Sometimes the images are clear and sometimes they are blurs that give the impression of objects and creatures rather than literal representations. Often, they are incomplete images, leaving much to the imagination. The most striking of these images are the up-close drawings of the wolf's face, accenting teeth and eyes.

The constant grayish brown of the wolf's fur is contrasted with lovely pastel colors that include turquoise, salmon, pale blue, tan, and various shades of green. Occasionally, bright red or yellow pierce the soft shades, giving a deep rich appearance to the pictures.

The beautiful artwork is presented in panels on most pages. Sometimes a scene is split into sections by the panels, so that the reader must view all panels at once to see the whole. Sometimes the panels have separate images, as if the illustrator wants the reader to observe several things simultaneously.

Here's an excellent example of the creative illustrating. On the left page we see a surrealistic drawing of parts of the wolf's face (teeth and eyes visible again). On the opposing page we see the girls' extended hands, which are the only parts of them visible amid the leaves in a tree. A rope fills the bottom half of the second page. The text at that point describes the girls hoisting the wolf up in a basket. They release the rope when the basket is almost to the top of the tree, sending the wolf hurtling to the ground. Nothing in the picture really shows that. All we see are bits and pieces that allude to the action as we read the text.

These descriptions of the illustrations do them NO justice - they must be seen to be appreciated.

"Lon Po Po" is a pleasant book with beautiful illustrations that spark the imagination. Grade school children should have no trouble reading and understanding it. This little gem won the 1990 Caldecott Medal for Most Distinguished Picture Book, and it's easy to see why.

Published by Paperstar (Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers) the book is available in paperback for $6.99 retail. A hardback copy runs about $16.99. Both versions can be bought for less via online book services.