Bao's Doll

April 15, 2024
A girl and her mother bridge a seemingly insurmountable gap. Other girls have the things that Bao wants: beautiful, blond-haired dolls and mothers who joke and snuggle with their daughters. But Bao, a young Asian child with straight black hair in a bowl cut, has neither. There's a palpable distance between her and Mama; on one spread, the two look in opposite directions as Mama explains, "When I was a little girl in Taiwan, we had nothing." Bao has stopped listening; clearly the two don't understand each other. Desperate, Bao takes matters into her own hands and shoplifts a coveted doll, but she's caught immediately. A spread depicting a huge boulder between the two makes clear that the distance separating them has grown. But when Bao apologizes, Mama tells her about how she grew up in an orphanage, and Bao begins to understand her mother better. Mama shows Bao a box of items "filled with bittersweet memories," and as mother and daughter open up, they find common ground in sewing a new doll "from Mama's memories and Bao's hopes." Lu's illustrations are colorful and soft, with stylistically plump figures and airy textures. The red of Bao's overalls and the blue of Mama's dress dominate, with accents, colors, and sketchy grays bringing details into the fore- or background. Generational trauma looms large but is tempered by the optimistic ending. An immigrant story that heals wounds present and past. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

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May 20, 2024
For her birthday, Bao wants cake, balloons, and an expensive “All-American” branded doll like her peers have, but “Mama did not hear that.” Nor does Mama understand Bao’s longing
to “share jokes, snuggles, and dreams,” as the girl sees other mothers and daughters do. Instead, Mama describes her childhood in Taiwan (“We had nothing”), and a rift grows between the two. After Bao, desperate over the perceived unfairness, takes a doll from a store shelf and runs for the door, an even larger space crops up between them. Soon, though, they talk about Mama’s upbringing and childhood longing for her own mother, and the two honor “Mama’s memories and Bao’s hopes” by making a doll that resembles them. Digital illustrations that mimic graphite and pastel add deep emotionality to a resonant debut that affirms family as well as cultural heritage. An author’s note concludes. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8.

July 1, 2024
Lu sets up an intergenerational conflict familiar to many immigrant families: Bao, a young Taiwanese American child, yearns for her immigrant mother to understand her, but neither of them is fully able to empathize with the other. This tension reaches a peak when Bao's unfulfilled wish for an "All-American Artist Amanda" doll -- a white, blond, blue-eyed doll that closely resembles one of Bao's own friends -- leads her to commit a rash act of shoplifting. In the aftermath, Mama and Bao finally communicate with each other. Mama relates painful stories about her own childhood and mother, and together they hand-sew a doll for Bao that shares her features, with hair "straight like dry noodles," eyes "as dark as sesame," and a smile "curved like a crescent moon." Lu skillfully juxtaposes simple but poetic language with expressive digital illustrations that mimic the soft texture of smudged oil pastels. Her judicious use of hue and composition, especially within and around the gutter, creates a clear visual of the characters' internal emotional landscapes and the evolution of their relative distance and intimacy. Bao's red and Mama's blue, initially segregated, eventually converge and blend into a gradient containing purple. The illustrations also include various cultural and linguistic details that will likely resonate with many Taiwanese diaspora readers and add another layer to the reading experience. Shenwei Chang

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 16, 2024

K-Gr 2-Bao wants many things her classmates have: a birthday party with cake and balloons; snuggles and jokes with her mom; and a special doll, Artist Amanda. Every time Bao tries to tell Mama these things, she answers that when she was a little girl in Taiwan, she had nothing. That's when Bao stops listening. Frustrated with her mother, Bao sees the coveted doll in the store, takes her, and is immediately caught. In the aftermath, a giant rock sits between them. After Bao apologizes, Mama opens up about growing up in an orphanage and missing her own mother and the two start to understand each other. Bao is primarily illustrated in red that shifts from cheerful to angry, while her mother is in somber blues, highlighting their separation and isolation. As they open up to one another at the end, the colors start to meld into purple. VERDICT Based on an incident in the author's childhood, this poignant story offers a child-centric discussion of large issues of generational trauma and immigration that will speak to all children who have ever felt as if their caretakers don't understand.-Jennifer Rothschild

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2024
Lu sets up an intergenerational conflict familiar to many immigrant families: Bao, a young Taiwanese American child, yearns for her immigrant mother to understand her, but neither of them is fully able to empathize with the other. This tension reaches a peak when Bao's unfulfilled wish for an "All-American Artist Amanda" doll -- a white, blond, blue-eyed doll that closely resembles one of Bao's own friends -- leads her to commit a rash act of shoplifting. In the aftermath, Mama and Bao finally communicate with each other. Mama relates painful stories about her own childhood and mother, and together they hand-sew a doll for Bao that shares her features, with hair "straight like dry noodles," eyes "as dark as sesame," and a smile "curved like a crescent moon." Lu skillfully juxtaposes simple but poetic language with expressive digital illustrations that mimic the soft texture of smudged oil pastels. Her judicious use of hue and composition, especially within and around the gutter, creates a clear visual of the characters' internal emotional landscapes and the evolution of their relative distance and intimacy. Bao's red and Mama's blue, initially segregated, eventually converge and blend into a gradient containing purple. The illustrations also include various cultural and linguistic details that will likely resonate with many Taiwanese diaspora readers and add another layer to the reading experience.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)