‘The Flamingo’
Guojing
(141 pages, Children’s Graphic Novel, 2022)
“The Flamingo” is a gorgeous graphic novel that’s excellent for introducing new readers (of any age) to the graphic novel format. Don’t be fooled by the 100+ page count: the story is a breeze to get through, being told nearly entirely in pictures, with very sparse text. The story follows a little girl who leaves her home in the city to visit her grandmother, or Lao Lao (a Mandarin term for maternal grandmother) at the seaside. The little girl finds a turtle shell on the beach, which leads Lao Lao to share stories about her own childhood. Many years ago, young Lao Lao found an egg on the beach too—a flamingo egg. The animal that hatched was a true friend. The hardest part of that friendship, as with any wild thing, was letting the flamingo go when the time was right for it to return to the wild.
The little girl and Lao Lao bond over discovery, friendship, imagination, storytelling, and a love of nature. When their visit ends, the goodbye is bittersweet—and author-illustrator Guojing beautifully conveys the characters’ emotional states through her use of settings and color palettes. Other powerful themes in this story include nostalgia, loss, missing loved ones, staying emotionally close over long distances, the enduring power of friendship, and various kinds of love (friendship, as well as familial).
Because this story is conveyed mainly through illustrations, readers must pay attention to the visual clues on each page, and use their imagination and interior monologue to create a narrative. I can imagine reading this book aloud with a loved one, taking turns making up the words. It’s simple enough for early readers, but adults will also find meaning in the sentiments and illustrations. This is truly a tale for the entire family.
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Faithe Miller Lakowicz
