Taiwanese author/illustrator Jimmy Liao's exquisite Our Starry, Starry Night is both picture book and graphic novel. This striking hybrid relies as much on its breathtaking illustrations as its gentle, succinct prose to tell a poignant story of two lonely children who briefly find a deep connection. This spectacular English edition, originally published in Taiwan in 2009, is translated by Ian Tseng.
A child, often shown in a red dress and blue shoes, lived with mountain-dwelling grandparents until the age of six. Now back in the city with their parents, the child "really" misses Grandpa (alone "up on that mountain") and Grandma ("who lives up in heaven"). The house is "so very quiet," and busy Mama and distracted Papa are unavailable: "I often close my door, hiding in my own world." Going to school doesn't alleviate the loneliness--"I pretend to be cool, but in my heart, I'm really fragile"--but peeking into strangers' windows offers glimpses of what other families are like. One night, the child notices the old lady next door has a new tenant, an "unfamiliar boy" who sings on the snowy roof, "so happy and carefree." The boy begins attending the child's school but silently keeps to himself. When he's viciously bullied, the child intervenes and, although both take some "knocks" and must go to the hospital, this event marks the pair becoming inseparable. Together, they decide to leave the city in search of peaceful calm. They share an enchanting journey all the way to Grandpa's cabin, which still rings of "the happiest laughter." The return home, alas, includes sickness and separation, but eventually engenders healing surprises.
Liao's meticulously detailed pages feature fully saturated colors and magical images: gifts, for example, grow huge, as if needing to fill up empty, looming spaces. Mythical beasts come and go: a red dragon fumes with anger, and a pair of deer flies by. The child even interacts with famous art pieces (with canvasses by René Magritte and Vincent van Gogh brilliantly adapted by Liao) that include their own chimerical flourishes. Liao relies on as many pages without words as with, and they speak volumes: each child says "whale" just once, but Liao manages to embed an illustrated narrative involving size, migration, and diversity of whales. Throughout Our Starry, Starry Night, Liao (Turn Left, Turn Right) magnificently bestows his characters and his readers with moments of wondrous beauty and utter joy. --Terry Hong
Shelf Talker: Jimmy's Liao's spectacular picture book for middle-graders, Our Starry, Starry Night, depicts the healing friendship of two lonely children.