The Only Child

Guojing is an illustrator from the Shanxi Province of China. Since graduating from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, she has worked as a concept artist for games and animated television shows. Due to China's birth control policy, Guojing is an only child, and she has drawn on her childhood memories of loneliness and isolation while developing this, her first book.

"A gorgeous, quiet book, deserving of multiple reads." Gene Yang, National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, author of American Born Chinese, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award

"A beautifully drawn adventure that slips effortlessly between dream and memory, as if these two worlds are actually one and the same: that distant place where the heart and mind must always travel before returning home, to know what it means to be lonely before knowing what it means to be loved." Shaun Tan, creator of The Arrival and The Lost Thing

"The Only Child evocatively, and without a single word, reminds us that we all are hopelessly lost and then joyously found, again and again, throughout our lives." Marla Frazee, two-time Caldecott Honor winner for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

"Guojing's luminous pencil drawings create a world of such sensory presence that now I know what it feels like to run my hand across the snout of a great stag, swing by an antler onto its back and soar through the air; or to watch in awe as a giant sky-whale dives down into a sea of clouds. A wonderfully dizzying journey." Paul O. Zelinsky, Caldecott Medalist for Rapunzel, and three-time Caldecott Honor recipient for Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Swamp Angel

Rare is the book containing great emotional depth that truly resonates across a span of ages: this is one such. Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Fine draftsmanship, deft pacing, and striking imaginative power distinguish this debut.   Publishers Weekly, Starred

Each arresting, softly penciled panel is surprisingly luminous in spite of its monochromatic palette, and in those gentle scenes, Guojing evokes a wide range of feeling, especially the lonesomeness of the little girl, who never quite seems at ease alone. Reminiscent of Raymond Briggs classic, The Snowman (1978), this is quiet, moving, playful, and bittersweet all at once.   Booklist, Starred 

"In