On the evening of Chinese New Year, a little girl cowers in her grandmother’s arms, afraid of the fireworks outside. To comfort her, the grandmother tells the story of how New Year celebrations began. Long ago, people would flee the village at this time because New Year was a ravenous sea dragon. One year the dragon ate a young fisherman. The following year, when the fisherman’s grieving mother refused to flee with her neighbours, a stranger knocked at her door, begging for a meal. The stranger, who was really Buddha, suggested they give the hungry dragon a “welcome it will not soon forget.” He instructed the old woman to chop the food outside as loudly as possible while he built a gigantic bonfire. When the dragon attacked, the sparks of the bonfire took the shape of the lost son, and the dragon, terrified, fled.

This is a dramatic story told in strong, spare prose. Some phrases sparkle; the deserted village is so quiet that the mice can be counted “by the ticking of their tiny nails on the vacant cobblestone streets.” Huang’s bold, masterful oil paintings spill over from one page to the next, swelling to double-page spreads at the most intense moments. Filled with power and emotion, they vividly suggest both the grief of the mother and the rage of the dragon and his victim. The domestic details of the ancient Chinese village are balanced by those of the girl’s bedroom in the present, and the modern grandmother recalls the mother of long ago. Her narration highlights the importance of passing stories down to the next generation.
This is a book that will be treasured by young and old.