Title The Paper Dragon Series --- Author Marguerite W. Davol Illustrator Robert Sabuda Publisher Atheneum Books for Young Readers - 1997 First Printing Atheneum Books for Young Readers - 1997 Category Children Warnings None Main Characters N/A Main Elements Dragons Website ---

Mi Fei is a humble painter of scrolls. Between each day's sunrise and sunset, he paints scenes of the gods and their festivals' portraits of heroes and their deeds. Although the scrolls bring him fame, Mi Fei is content to live in his village, surrounded by people he loves. But one day a messenger enters the village with terrible news: the dragon Sui Jen has awakened from its hundred years' sleep and is destroying everything in its path. Someone must find a way to return Sui Jen to its slumber. To the villagers, only one among them is wise enough to confront the scaly beast -- Mi Fei.

The power of the artist's vision and the ever-sustaining nature of love are brought together in Marguerite W. Davol's beautiful story, strikingly interpreted by Robert Sabuda in a series of gatefold illustrations that convey the storytelling majesty of the Chinese narrative scrollmaker's art.

I have to start with the artwork, it is simply beautiful. I found myself simply staring at the shapes and colours and then the more I stared, the more I had to wonder if this wasn't even painted at all, but was the most amazing paper cuttouts I'd ever seen. Regardless of the media used, it was stunning and wholly appropriate for the asian theme.

The prose was beautiful too, it's almost hard to get a fairy tale wrong, but in here I found myself being drawn in to the magic of the time and place, the formality of the culture, the majesty of the dragon. The only thing that surprised me is that Asian dragons are creatures of water not flame, I wonder if that was changed for this book or if it was in the original tale? But as a Westerner the flaming dragon is certainly impressive, especially with Sabuda's illustrations.

Unfortunately for me this is a library book and I have to give it back, but if you find an excuse to buy a copy I recommend it.