Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri Sep 16 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

A child's visit to their grandmother creates lasting stories.At Lao Lao's coastal home, flamingo motifs are everywhere. The child asks Lao Lao about a feather in a flamingo-shaped cup, and as the scene shifts, we see a girl walking along a beach and discovering an egg, out of which a flamingo chick eventually hatches. In between kite flying, bao steaming, and their own coastal walk, Lao Lao shares her story with her grandchild. Friendship between the flamingo and the girl grows, but the time comes for goodbyes. The flamingo flies away, and the girl hopes for the bird's return. Just as Lao Lao's story concludes, a flock of flamingos serendipitously fills the sky. Grandmother and grandchild must part, too. Back at home, feather in hand, the child begins to write their own story, and their imagination takes flight. Guojing's tender tale uses the migration of birds to explore how family bonds endure despite separation and the passage of time. The spare text in this mostly wordless tale is well placed. Rendered in Photoshop, watercolor, and colored pencil, the illustrations depict expressive faces and dynamic perspectives, beautifully capturing the joy of a hug, the wonder of visiting new places, the sadness of saying goodbye, and the hope of reuniting. The use of color is inspired; muted illustrations with pops of reddish pink depict the present, while both Lao Lao's and the child's stories are portrayed in vibrant hues. Use of the term Lao Lao cues the characters as Chinese, though locations aren't specified.This tale soars. (Graphic fiction. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A child's visit to their grandmother creates lasting stories.At Lao Lao's coastal home, flamingo motifs are everywhere. The child asks Lao Lao about a feather in a flamingo-shaped cup, and as the scene shifts, we see a girl walking along a beach and discovering an egg, out of which a flamingo chick eventually hatches. In between kite flying, bao steaming, and their own coastal walk, Lao Lao shares her story with her grandchild. Friendship between the flamingo and the girl grows, but the time comes for goodbyes. The flamingo flies away, and the girl hopes for the bird's return. Just as Lao Lao's story concludes, a flock of flamingos serendipitously fills the sky. Grandmother and grandchild must part, too. Back at home, feather in hand, the child begins to write their own story, and their imagination takes flight. Guojing's tender tale uses the migration of birds to explore how family bonds endure despite separation and the passage of time. The spare text in this mostly wordless tale is well placed. Rendered in Photoshop, watercolor, and colored pencil, the illustrations depict expressive faces and dynamic perspectives, beautifully capturing the joy of a hug, the wonder of visiting new places, the sadness of saying goodbye, and the hope of reuniting. The use of color is inspired; muted illustrations with pops of reddish pink depict the present, while both Lao Lao's and the child's stories are portrayed in vibrant hues. Use of the term Lao Lao cues the characters as Chinese, though locations aren't specified.This tale soars. (Graphic fiction. 5-9)

Horn Book (Thu Oct 03 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

In this moving, mostly wordless graphic novel, a young girl of Chinese descent visits her grandmother on her own; the bond between the two deepens through their shared joy in storytelling and in observing nature. Central to the story is a flamingo, a wild rescue bird that Lao Lao (the grandmother) had saved and raised years ago when she was little. Guojing's expressive digital, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations have a timeless, cinematic quality, switching back and forth between the grandmother's bright, tropical childhood awash in shades of yellow, pink, and blue and the gray-hued present. This contrast becomes even greater when the granddaughter flies home (via a flamingo-pink airplane) to her family's lonely apartment in an imposing skyscraper-filled metropolis. A fantastical appearance by the titular character toward the end brings this gentle tale of family love -- spanning time, distance, and generations -- to a satisfying, heartwarming close. With its unfussy art and few words, the story leaves room for viewers' interpretation; what's never in question is the love between Lao Lao and her granddaughter.

School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 3 Up— A girl goes to visit her grandmother, who lives in a house near the beach. She finds a pink feather at Lao Lao's house that sparks her curiosity. The book gently transitions between the real and the imaginary, as Lao Lao tells her a story about a girl who found an egg at the beach. Lao Lao tells her story a little at a time, gradually revealing that a tiny white chick hatched out of the egg, and that the chick grew up into a pink flamingo, which eventually flew away. When the girl returns home, she's inspired to write her own conclusion to the story, which (be forewarned) might make more sensitive readers cry. This book is mostly wordless, which will give readers more time to focus on the ethereal, and often breathtaking, artwork. The palette changes as the story moves from the real world into the fictional and back again. The real world is beautiful, but has only a few colors, while the fictional world uses many colors to great effect, like Isabelle Arsenault's artwork in Fanny Britt's Jane, the Fox &; Me . The cover illustration of a flamingo with outstretched wings on a fire escape will probably get the most attention, but some of the interior artwork—the image of the girl, her dog, and the chick watching a sunset together—is equally astonishing. VERDICT For readers who enjoy emotionally moving stories about family, love, and the power of imagination.— Andrea Lipinski

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Immaculately drawn and paced, this largely wordless intergenerational portrait tells a double story about sturdy bonds across time and space. Panels in shades of charcoal gray and desaturated red capture the reunion of a young grandchild flying alone to visit their enthusiastically waving Lao Lao, who cues as Chinese. Asked about a pink feather found in a flamingo-shaped cup, Lao Lao spins a tale—told in kaleidoscopic full-color art—about a kid who finds an egg at the beach, takes it home, and finds themself the caretaker of a baby flamingo. Guojing (Stormy) represents the growing flamingo’s changing body with marvelous care, and vibrant sequences in which the bird, the child, and a terrier grow closer provide moments of sheer delight, as in images of the young flamingo sitting stuffed in a pocket and perched on the child’s head. Soon, though, it’s time for both children to say goodbye—to the flamingo and to Lao Lao, too—transitions attended by soaring moments, and followed by a lovely art-centered coda. The parallels between human love and migrating birds are unmistakable in this elegant parable of faithful return. Ages 5–8. (Sept.)