How to Catch a Dragon

December 16, 2019
In unevenly metered rhyme, the team behind the How to Catch series presents their latest installment, in which a Chinese boy attempts to catch a dragon in his village for Chinese New Year with the help of his multicultural friends. Certain English words presented in red, gold, and white are translated into correspondingly colored simplified Chinese characters within the illustrations (“grandma” appears translated in a framed wall hanging, for example). Bafflingly, however, pronunciations don’t appear until the very end, where the entire picture book text is provided in English, pinyin, and simplified Chinese. Digital illustrations, while vibrant, are just as muddled; the setting seems to be an ancient, pre-technological Chinese village, though the boy and his friends all sport modern attire. Chinese dishes, such as sticky rice, are drawn like their Western counterparts and retain none of their cultural nuance. A fun concept with a less-than-stellar execution. Ages 4–10.

November 1, 2019
A kid tries to catch a good-luck dragon hiding around town as the family prepares for Chinese New Year following the formula established in How To Catch an Elf (2016) and other series installments. After hearing Mom wish for a dragon to bring health and fortune for the new year, a boy (presumably Chinese) and several friends (of varying racial presentations) discover a dragon lurking about town. Among the Chinese-style architecture of the town buildings, they employ various fantastical lures related to Chinese culture to catch it, including a web of noodles and sticky rice, a giant red lantern, gold coins, and a dragon dance. The simple and often awkward rhyming quatrains leave no room for deeper insights into Chinese culture, but each stanza does include one or two highlighted words whose Chinese translation can then be found within the illustration. The entire text is translated into Simplified Chinese with Pinyin in the backmatter for cross-referencing. Elkerton's digitally painted, colorful cartoon illustrations depict a diverse cast of modern-looking children against a backdrop of a traditional Chinese village. Ultimately, despite the protagonist's failure to catch the dragon, it is being within the embrace of a loving family (depicted as a mother and a grandmother) that is the luckiest of all. A joyful if simplistic celebration of Chinese New Year culture. (Picture book. 3-7)

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