Genre
Bilingual materials
Folklore
Picture books for children
Subject
Boys
Chinese people
Dragons
Droughts
Magic rocks
Transformations (Magic)

This was a wonderful story to read, as it is about a young Chinese boy named Ah Bao who ventured out in search for the water dragon to bring his village out of a drought. The illustrations were very unique, and they were done in a way that I have never seen before. I loved how the illustrations made the story come to life, and I loved how the red ball stood out in the illustrations.
I also really liked how this story is written in both English and Mandarin, and therefore it can also expose children to a different language. ( )

I love bilingual children’s books. There are different types of audiences for such books and the variety of bilingual books reflects the differing needs. For some languages where the pronunciation of both languages is relatively easy to identify in the same alphabet such as Spanish and English, families who are bilingual and families who aren’t can both be served by the same books. However, for languages such as Chinese, unless the reader is bilingual, pronunciation guides are necessary. In the case of “The Water Dragon,” by Li Jian the reader should be bilingual to read all of the book in both languages.

That said, even if you can’t read this book in both languages, it is still an enjoyable story in either one. The illustrations are done in the style of a scroll painting. The tale takes us to a struggling village where a boy, Ah Bao, sets out on a journey to bring much needed water. He meets a series of magical creatures along the way. The story covers honesty and self-sacrifice. It is an excellent one for ages 4-7.

This review also available at https://incidentalreviewsblog.com/2017/12/21/rise-of-the-water-dragon/ ( )

Tells the origin story of the water dragon, which creates rain in the sky, the essential life-source for agricultural traditional China. Story follows a boy finding a magical stone, then embarking on a fantastic journey meeting talking animals and a monster. Text is both English and Chinese. ( )

Fantastic myth. Loved how the illustrations did such a great job of making the story come alive. It was also nice to see the story teller was also the illustrator; Li Jian. The story itself was so fun and exciting. I feel these dragon related stories are very important to the culture's they come from. They also always seem to have a direct relation to family or community. Like this myth the dragon saves the day by bringing rain and water back to the village's. ( )