Belle Yang

In a lost-and-found tale that soars far beyond just a happy ending, Taiwanese fine artist Belle Yang pays affectionate homage to the city of Beijing. In busy Beijing, New Year's Eve firecrackers scare a stray white cat into the courtyard of a young girl. The two become fast friends, riding the girl's bike through the city and seeing all kinds of people and things. Trrrring-trrrring the girl chimes with her bicycle bell. Niaow-niaow answers Kitty. On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the girl and the cat watch the kites soaring above crowded, chaotic Tiananmen Square. Kitty is enthralled by the enormous, colorful dragon kite, and she leaps to catch it as it sails up into the sky -- taking Kitty with it and carrying her out of sight The girl searches the city, visiting all their favorite spots and ringing her bell along the way, but Kitty is nowhere to be found. Will the two ever be reunited? Or could another unexpected friendship be in store -- for both of them?

In a lost-and-found tale that soars far beyond just a happy ending, Taiwanese fine artist Belle Yang pays affectionate homage to the city of Beijing. In busy Beijing, New Year's Eve firecrackers scare a stray white cat into the courtyard of a young girl. The two become fast friends, riding the girl's bike through the city and seeing all kinds of people and things. Trrrring-trrrring the girl chimes with her bicycle bell. Niaow-niaow answers Kitty. On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the girl and the cat watch the kites soaring above crowded, chaotic Tiananmen Square. Kitty is enthralled by the enormous, colorful dragon kite, and she leaps to catch it as it sails up into the sky -- taking Kitty with it and carrying her out of sight The girl searches the city, visiting all their favorite spots and ringing her bell along the way, but Kitty is nowhere to be found. Will the two ever be reunited? Or could another unexpected friendship be in store -- for both of them?

In English and Mandarin Chinese, Belle Yang's bilingual board books celebrate the natural world with simple concepts and beautiful, bold illustrations. In springtime, when wild geese come to nest, there are eggs for counting. But how many goslings will there be? And how many in the whole paddling family, when Papa and Mama join them? Tonal marks used in the book are explained in a final spread, along with a pinyin translation of the Chinese characters.

When Belle Yang was forced to take refuge in her parents’ home after an abusive boyfriend began stalking her, her father entertained her with stories of old China. The history she’d ignored while growing up became a source of comfort and inspiration, and narrowed the gap separating her—an independent, Chinese-American woman—from her Old World Chinese parents. In Forget Sorrow, Yang makes her debut into the graphic form with the story of her father’s family, reunited under the House of Yang in Manchuria during the Second World War and struggling—both together and individually—to weather poverty, famine, and, later, Communist oppression. The parallels between Belle Yang’s journey of self-discovery and the lives and choices of her grandfather, his brothers, and their father (the Patriarch) speak powerfully of the conflicts between generations—and of possibilities for reconciliation. Forget Sorrow demonstrates the power of storytelling and remembrance, as Belle—in telling this story—finds the strength to honor both her father and herself.