Dragon Folding (Christopher Cheng, illus Lucia Masciullo, Puffin)

Dragon Folding is an evocative picture book that celebrates community, creativity and intergenerational friendships, written by Christopher Cheng (Bear and Rat, One Tree) and illustrated by Lucia Masciullo (The Imagineer, An A–Z of Dreaming Differently and Go Home Cat). Things have changed a lot for Mr Singer since his wife ‘went away’. His neighbours, including a young boy, Evan, try to help by buying groceries and washing windows, but Mr Singer is stuck in a rut, yelling at kids playing games and letting his nose hairs grow wild. That is until Evan visits him and reminds him how gratifying it can be to create something from scratch. Together, they create a flight of paper dragons, helping each other when their fingers fumble. Masciullo’s beautifully detailed illustrations cleverly show Mr Singer’s life in black and white, contrasted with the full colour of those around him in the community. In the end, magic and lightness return to Mr Singer’s house, and he is depicted in full colour again. This heartfelt story has a happy ending that will show readers aged 5+ how important it is to spread joy and show compassion, especially to people going through a hard time.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Karys McEwen is a librarian, bookseller, author, and the vice president of CBCA VIC Branch. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews