THE LONG-HAIRED GIRL

A tale of courage given impact by the sheer drama that laces the story—the give and take, the frenzied activity, the cleverness. The Dragon King has cut off the rain supply to Ah-mei's village. Drought wracks the land; every patch of earth is seared, every throat parched. Ah-mei scours a slope of grass for any trace of greenery and finds a few spare leaves. Giving these a tug, she pulls out a turnip and locates a modest spring. She sips from it as the God of Thunder declares she will lose her life if she tells anyone else about it. Ah-mei does tell the villagers—she must—but a sleight of hand allows her life to be spared. Rappaport (Tinker Vs. Des Moines, 1993, etc.) evocatively retells this Chinese folktale, made doubly effective by exceptional tinted woodcuts, artwork that conjures a south Asian landscape with startling power. (Picture book. 4-8)