{"id":97,"date":"2025-04-11T19:35:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T10:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=97"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:49:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:49:25","slug":"gracey_zhang_2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2025\/04\/11\/gracey_zhang_2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mag\u00adic of Kind\u00adness and Wild\u00adness That Awak\u00adens the Vital\u00adi\u00adty of Life \u2014 A Review of Two Author-Illus\u00adtrat\u00aded Works by Gracey Zhang"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Children\u2019s kind\u00adness and wild\u00adness are, at their core, com\u00adple\u00admen\u00adtary forces\u2014both are essen\u00adtial ele\u00adments in awak\u00aden\u00ading the vital\u00adi\u00adty of life.<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Cov\u00ader of the Chi\u00adnese ver\u00adsion of \u201cLara\u2019s Words\n\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gracey Zhang has quick\u00adly emerged in the field of chil\u00addren\u2019s books with her unique visu\u00adal style and del\u00adi\u00adcate abil\u00adi\u00adty to cap\u00adture emo\u00adtions. Her debut pic\u00adture\u00adbook \u201cLala\u2019s Words\u201d, pub\u00adlished in 2021, was eye-catch\u00ading and won the indus\u00adtry\u2019s pres\u00adti\u00adgious Ezra Jack Keates Illus\u00adtra\u00adtion Award in 2022. In recent years, Gracey Zhang has col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded with authors on at least six pic\u00adture books, all of which have been wide\u00adly praised. Among them, The Upside Down Hat (writ\u00adten by Steven Balt\u00adsar) and Nigel and the Moon (writ\u00adten by Antwan Eady) have already been pub\u00adlished in Chi\u00adnese edi\u00adtions. How\u00adev\u00ader, it is her author-illus\u00adtrat\u00aded works that remain the most com\u00adpelling. Her sec\u00adond solo title, When Rubin Plays, will soon be intro\u00adduced to Chi\u00adnese read\u00aders along\u00adside her debut, Lala\u2019s Words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Rubin Plays<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lala, as described by Gracey Zhang, is a Chi\u00adnese immi\u00adgrant girl who is ener\u00adgetic and kind-heart\u00aded. In her moth\u00ader\u2019s eyes, she is a lit\u00adtle \u201cwild\u201d. She is always unwill\u00ading to stay at home and would rather spend the whole day with wild flow\u00aders and weeds. What her moth\u00ader can\u00adnot under\u00adstand is that Lala actu\u00adal\u00adly express\u00ades her love for the world through \u201cdia\u00adlogue\u201d with plants. \u201cLala\u2019s Words\u201d not only shows Lala\u2019s unique con\u00adnec\u00adtion with nature, but also con\u00adveys the pow\u00ader of lan\u00adguage and the heal\u00ading pow\u00ader of kind\u00adness. \u201cWhen Rubin Plays\u201d focus\u00ades on the growth of a local Boli\u00advian boy, Rubin. The back\u00adground is set in a small town on the edge of a \u201cwild\u201d for\u00adest. Rubin con\u00adducts his own musi\u00adcal explo\u00adration with the help of ani\u00admals, high\u00adlight\u00ading the joy of free and unre\u00adstrained self-expres\u00adsion. Both books explore the impact of cul\u00adtur\u00adal dif\u00adfer\u00adences on indi\u00advid\u00adual growth and show the \u201cmag\u00adic\u201d of the coex\u00adis\u00adtence of kind\u00adness and wild\u00adness in chil\u00addren\u2019s hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Cov\u00ader of the Chi\u00adnese ver\u00adsion of \u201cSnowy Day\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pic\u00adture book enthu\u00adsi\u00adasts may be more famil\u00adiar with Ezra Jack Keats (1916\u20131983), who cre\u00adat\u00aded clas\u00adsic works such as \u201cThe Snowy Day\u201d, \u201cPeter\u2019s Chair\u201d, \u201cWhis\u00adtle for Willie\u201d and \u201cGog\u00adgles\u201d. Born into a Jew\u00adish immi\u00adgrant fam\u00adi\u00adly, Keats brought a unique sen\u00adsi\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty to chil\u00addren grow\u00ading up in diverse cul\u00adtur\u00adal back\u00adgrounds. His most cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded works focus on a young Black boy named Peter, and these stories\u2014widely acclaimed and award-winning\u2014significantly trans\u00adformed the land\u00adscape of pic\u00adture book pub\u00adlish\u00ading. The pres\u00adti\u00adgious award named in his hon\u00ador rec\u00adog\u00adnizes artists who make out\u00adstand\u00ading con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions to diver\u00adsi\u00adty and inclu\u00adsion in children\u2019s literature\u2014an ethos that Gracey Zhang\u2019s work embod\u00adies with remark\u00adable clar\u00adi\u00adty and warmth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unique illustration style<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, for most West\u00adern read\u00aders, the most attrac\u00adtive thing about \u201cLara\u2019s Words\u201d is the per\u00adfect match between its illus\u00adtra\u00adtion style and the sto\u00adry itself. The New York Times book review praised its unique illus\u00adtra\u00adtion style, \u201cblend\u00ading warm\u00adheart\u00aded mlti\u00adeth\u00adnic urban car\u00adi\u00adca\u00adture with a bold-lined rough-and-tum\u00adble zeal, is whol\u00adly orig\u00adi\u00adnal.\u201d And Kirkus Reviews com\u00adment\u00aded: \u201cLala\u2019s enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm blos\u00adsoms on the page.\u201d Paul Swydan, the own\u00ader of the The Sil\u00adver Uni\u00adcorn Book\u00adstore, exclaimed: \u201cThis pic\u00adture book is breath\u00adtak\u00ading, and Zhang\u2019s use of col\u00ador real\u00adly helps the sto\u00adry come alive. It\u2019s like a mod\u00adern inverse of The Giv\u00ading Tree .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe rea\u00adson why I asso\u00adciate with The Giv\u00ading Tree is that, visu\u00adal\u00adly speak\u00ading, it is main\u00adly the use of black and white line draw\u00adings. Both books are full of emo\u00adtion and ten\u00adsion. But why is it a \u201cinverse\u201d? On the one hand, The Giv\u00ading Tree is actu\u00adal\u00adly the process of a tree that keeps giv\u00ading and turns into an old stump, and the life fades away. How\u00adev\u00ader, Lala uses her lan\u00adguage mag\u00adic to make her \u201camaz\u00ading\u201d plant friends real\u00adize the \u201camaz\u00ading\u201d life bloom. On the oth\u00ader hand, Lala\u2019s Words still adds bright and warm col\u00adors, mak\u00ading peo\u00adple feel the vital\u00adi\u00adty of life, as if there is real\u00adly mag\u00adic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inside page of the Chi\u00adnese ver\u00adsion of \u201cLara\u2019s Words\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I had the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to ask Gracey ques\u00adtions via email. Two of the ques\u00adtions were: Why does this book use only sim\u00adple yel\u00adlow and green col\u00adors, but still leave a deep impres\u00adsion? Why is Lala yel\u00adlow? Gracey\u2019s answers were:\u201cI\u2019ve always loved black and white art, and yel\u00adlow just seemed to be the right colour for Lala. Sun\u00adshine, run\u00adny egg yolks, flower pollen, and hazy sum\u00admer days.\u201c<\/mark><\/strong>Of course, I agree with the artist\u2019s answer. But the yel\u00adlow labia also reminds me of the lit\u00adtle girl in yel\u00adlow clothes in \u201cStone Soup\u201d, the descen\u00addants of the drag\u00adon with yel\u00adlow skin, and the noble yel\u00adlow that could only be used by the roy\u00adal fam\u00adi\u00adly dur\u00ading the impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal peri\u00adod\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Fan Broth\u00aders, also Chi\u00adnese pic\u00adture book artists, cre\u00adat\u00aded \u201cThe Night Gar\u00adden\u00ader\u201d, \u201cOcean Meets Sky\u201d and \u201cThe Barnabus Project\u201d which are also very pop\u00adu\u00adlar in Chi\u00adna. They also praised:\u201cLala\u2019s Words is real\u00adly about mag\u00adic; a spe\u00adcial kind of mag\u00adic called kind\u00adness. Like the sun\u00adlight and falling rain, kind\u00adness nour\u00adish\u00ades the world around us. This book, with its love\u00adly art and whim\u00adsi\u00adcal sto\u00adry, will also nour\u00adish the read\u00ader.\u201d<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the magic of mother-daughter communication mode<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although this can be said to be an excit\u00ading \u201cmag\u00adi\u00adcal\u201d sto\u00adry, the way the moth\u00ader in the book spoke to Lala also made me read some\u00adthing that might be eas\u00adi\u00ader for Chi\u00adnese peo\u00adple to read. I could\u00adn\u2019t help but ask the author in an email: \u201cDoes this sto\u00adry have some kind of per\u00adson\u00adal expe\u00adri\u00adence? Although I am very hap\u00adpy to see that Lala final\u00adly changed her moth\u00ader, Lala\u2019s moth\u00ader always reminds me of the more neg\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adments that many Chi\u00adnese moth\u00aders often use on their chil\u00addren\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhang\u2019s response was straight\u00adfor\u00adward and warm:\u201cAlso you\u2019re com\u00adplete\u00adly accu\u00adrate with your par\u00adal\u00adlels. I wrote Lala\u2019s Words dur\u00ading a peri\u00adod of ten\u00adsion with my moth\u00ader when our rela\u00adtion\u00adship was more rocky than usu\u00adal. I was reflect\u00ading on how we related\/talked\/communicated with each oth\u00ader and how far back this mis\u00adcom\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion went to child\u00adhood and more. I sup\u00adpose writ\u00ading and illus\u00adtrat\u00ading the sto\u00adry was a way to show her how I was feel\u00ading with\u00adout hav\u00ading to go through anoth\u00ader dif\u00adfi\u00adcult con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion. Like I was say\u00ading \u201chere read this, this is how I feel.\u201d\u201d<\/mark><\/strong>\u2014\u2014It was a per\u00adfect idea to com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcate effec\u00adtive\u00adly with my moth\u00ader by writ\u00ading a book. At the end of the book, moth\u00ader and daugh\u00adter not only rec\u00adon\u00adciled, but also expressed deep love for each oth\u00ader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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I lat\u00ader found Zhang\u2019s accep\u00adtance speech when she accept\u00aded the award online in 2022. She specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly men\u00adtioned:\u201c Lala\u2019s Words is a sto\u00adry that I wrote from my own expe\u00adri\u00adence grow\u00ading up with my moth\u00ader, a sto\u00adry that spoke to a lot of fears and mis\u00adcom\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion between a lot of immi\u00adgrant moth\u00aders and chil\u00addren. All the things that go unsaid or are said. I real\u00adized it was\u00adn\u2019t just me and my moth\u00ader, but it was a pat\u00adtern of gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtional com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion and rela\u00adtion\u00adships between her moth\u00ader and all the moth\u00aders before that. \u201d<\/mark><\/strong>\u2014\u2014I would like to say that this is also the deep\u00ader lev\u00adel of lan\u00adguage mag\u00adic that touched me about this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diverse visual expressions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLara\u2019s Words\u201d is some\u00adwhat auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal, while \u201cWhen Rubin Plays\u201d is more free and unre\u00adstrained. In her debut pic\u00adture book, Gracey Zhang adopts a min\u00adi\u00admal\u00adist illus\u00adtra\u00adtion style\u2014predominantly black-and-white linework accent\u00aded with touch\u00ades of col\u00ador. This restrained visu\u00adal lan\u00adguage not only high\u00adlights the emo\u00adtion\u00adal core of the sto\u00adry but also deep\u00adens Lala\u2019s con\u00adnec\u00adtion with the world around her through its ele\u00adgant sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty.\n\nIn con\u00adtrast, her sec\u00adond author-illus\u00adtrat\u00aded work bursts with rich, vivid col\u00adors. Set in the emo\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly vibrant land\u00adscape of Latin Amer\u00adi\u00adca, the sto\u00adry teems with the wild vital\u00adi\u00adty of nature and the pulse of music. The illus\u00adtra\u00adtions are sat\u00adu\u00adrat\u00aded with bold reds, oranges, greens, and blues. At the story\u2019s climax\u2014where Rubin\u2019s music reach\u00ades a fever pitch and ani\u00admals whirl through the scene\u2014the imagery explodes into a daz\u00adzling spec\u00adta\u00adcle of sound and motion, leav\u00ading read\u00aders almost breath\u00adless with its exu\u00adber\u00adance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Through her mas\u00adter\u00adful use of col\u00ador, Gracey Zhang demon\u00adstrates a remark\u00adable abil\u00adi\u00adty to adapt visu\u00adal ele\u00adments to suit the emo\u00adtion\u00adal tone and cul\u00adtur\u00adal con\u00adtext of each sto\u00adry. Her seam\u00adless inte\u00adgra\u00adtion of visu\u00adal art and nar\u00adra\u00adtive text infus\u00ades her works with a dis\u00adtinct emo\u00adtion\u00adal res\u00ado\u00adnance. Beyond enhanc\u00ading the visu\u00adal appeal, her thought\u00adful inter\u00adplay of col\u00ador and line deep\u00adens the the\u00admat\u00adic lay\u00aders of her sto\u00adry\u00adtelling, allow\u00ading the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions to echo and expand upon the emo\u00adtion\u00adal heart of the tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though dif\u00adfer\u00adent in plot and set\u00adting, both of Gracey Zhang\u2019s books reveal a kind of \u201cmag\u00adic\u201d that lives with\u00adin every child. In Lala\u2019s Words, Lala\u2019s gen\u00adtle words and qui\u00adet care breathe life into the plants she loves\u2014a mag\u00adic root\u00aded in kind\u00adness, show\u00ading how lan\u00adguage can shape and trans\u00adform the world. In When Rubin Plays, Rubin dis\u00adcov\u00aders his mag\u00adic through music\u2014a mag\u00adic born of his yearn\u00ading for self-expres\u00adsion and his deep love for sound and rhythm. Each child, in their own way, taps into a pow\u00ader\u00adful inner force that brings vital\u00adi\u00adty and won\u00adder to the world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The magic that can change the world<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Though these two forms of mag\u00adic may appear dif\u00adfer\u00adent on the sur\u00adface, they both arise from the same source: the puri\u00adty and strength at the heart of a child. In essence, a child\u2019s kind\u00adness and wild\u00adness are not oppo\u00adsites but com\u00adple\u00admen\u00adtary forces\u2014each essen\u00adtial to awak\u00aden\u00ading the vital\u00adi\u00adty of life. In Gracey Zhang\u2019s hands, kind\u00adness and wild\u00adness are nev\u00ader in con\u00adflict; instead, they coex\u00adist as the most pre\u00adcious ele\u00adments of a child\u2019s spir\u00adit. It is through this unique blend of gen\u00adtle\u00adness and untamed ener\u00adgy that chil\u00addren unleash their truest vital\u00adi\u00adty and cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is tru\u00adly heart\u00aden\u00ading to see a new star ris\u00ading on the glob\u00adal pic\u00adture book stage\u2014Gracey Zhang, a gift\u00aded Chi\u00adnese Cana\u00addi\u00adan illus\u00adtra\u00adtor and sto\u00adry\u00adteller. Her unique cul\u00adtur\u00adal back\u00adground gives her a dis\u00adtinct per\u00adspec\u00adtive on the world, allow\u00ading her to reflect on her own upbring\u00ading while embrac\u00ading a broad\u00ader, more inclu\u00adsive view of human\u00adi\u00adty. Through her work, she reveals the \u201cmag\u00adic\u201d with\u00adin the world of children\u2014a mag\u00adic that doesn\u2019t just dwell in kind\u00adness or wild\u00adness alone, but thrives in their har\u00admo\u00adnious coex\u00adis\u00adtence. Her sto\u00adries cel\u00ade\u00adbrate this dual\u00adi\u00adty, cap\u00adtur\u00ading the vibrant, com\u00adplex spir\u00adit of child\u00adhood with remark\u00adable grace and vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe this dual kind of \u201cmag\u00adic\u201d holds the pow\u00ader to awak\u00aden the deep\u00adest vital\u00adi\u00adty of life\u2014not only trans\u00adform\u00ading the worlds with\u00adin sto\u00adries, but also leav\u00ading a last\u00ading impact on read\u00aders, both young and old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ajia writ\u00adten in Bei\u00adjing on Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 13, 2024<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u513f\u7ae5\u7684\u5584\u826f\u4e0e\u91ce\u6027\u5728\u672c\u8d28\u4e0a\u662f\u76f8\u8f85\u76f8\u6210\u7684\uff0c\u90fd\u662f\u5524\u8d77\u751f\u547d\u6d3b\u529b\u7684\u91cd\u8981\u5143\u7d20\u2026\u2026 \u5e74\u8f7b\u7684\u534e\u88d4\u63d2\u753b\u5bb6\u5f20\u5955\u9896\uff08Gracey Z […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4,12],"tags":[8,5,6],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-story-of-story-tellers","category-ajia-review","tag-8","tag-5","tag-6"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/\u62c9\u62c9\u7684\u8bed\u8a00\u9b54\u6cd505-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}