Guojing

WOW Recommends: Book of the Month

WOW Recommends: Oasis

Two children look up in delight as an android projects an image of the cosmos from its chest.In this post-apocalyptic graphic novel, JieJie and her little brother DiDi make their way through a desolate desert landscape to reach an isolated telephone booth, their only contact with their mother who works tirelessly in a factory in the domed city of Oasis.

Their days are filled with surviving sandstorms and scavenging for food and water until they find an obsolete robot abandoned in a junkyard. They piece the robot together and activate its mother mode, gradually developing a loving relationship. When their worried mother travels to visit them in the desert, she initially rejects the robot mother. Her children persuade her that they can form a family and create a future together, rejecting the technological tyranny of Oasis. Continue reading →

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The Book to Take Us Home

By Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Cover of Stormy features a small, curly-haired dog and his ball created in soft hues with pencil and watercolorIt’s the end of 2020, and what a journey we have all been on! In many ways, it has felt like we were lost and far from home even as many of us spent much more time than normal at home. There was also a sense of not knowing where we would land for some, and–for some others–whom to trust. Thus, the sweet and wordless picturebook Stormy (2019) by Chinese author/illustrator Guojing will resonate with many readers on both a surface level and more metaphorically. Even the title let’s us think in metaphorical ways about the last year! Continue reading →

WOW Recommends: Book of the Month

WOW Recommends: Stormy

Cover of Stormy features a small, curly-haired dog and his ball created in soft hues with pencil and watercolorStormy, by Chinese author/illustrator Guojing, captures attention from a first look at its cover: a small, curly-haired dog and his ball created in soft hues with pencil and watercolor. The assumption can easily be that this is another lovely dog story, potentially appealing to both young and old. However, opening this book reveals a visual narrative whose art goes beyond just “another dog story.” Continue reading →