The Flying Light

Chinese illustrator Yang sets his largely wordless debut in a metropolis crowded with tall, red-roofed buildings. In smaller panels punctuated by dramatic spreads, a rotund fellow in a stovepipe hat spots a one-eyed insect that glows like a firefly, and he leaps astride his horse-size iguana to follow it. When the glowing creature evades him, he hires a bird to take him and his iguana into the forest in pursuit. There he discovers a huge, artichokelike blossom swarming with the insects—it’s the source of their light. He brings the flower home and plants it in his garden. Readers may expect environmental upset, but the flower multiplies happily, and the luminous insects flock to the man’s garden. Success! In Yang’s world, neither nature nor civilization has to give way in order for the other to flourish. Intricate, polished pen-and-ink artwork reveals intriguing details to viewers who linger: a breathtaking, double-page aerial view shows a smokestack-studded city guarded by medieval-style clock towers while small, porcine animal vehicles carry passengers on a ring road far below—an oddly sober metropolitan setting that contrasts provocatively with the story’s jolly encounters. Readers will hope there’s more wonder to come. Ages 5–7. [em](Feb.) [/em]