Oliver Chin, illustrated by Charlene Chua,
Julie Black Belt
Immedium, 2007.

Rating: G*

Julie is great at playing kung fu video games and she’s a big fan of Brandy Wu’s kung fu movies. Believing kung fu is going to be easy to learn, Julie signs up for lessons. Before Julie even attends her first kung fu class, she has visions of wearing a black belt around her waist and soaring through the air like her action hero Brandy Wu. But after her first few lessons, Julie realizes kung fu involves a lot more than wearing a coloured belt. She learns students spend hours training to earn a black belt, and once Julie hears this, she loses interest in the class.

Julie’s kung fu teacher might not be old like she imagined him to be, and her teacher might not be able to lift her with his little finger as she hoped, but her teacher is as wise as she envisioned. Sensing Julie wants to quit, he tells Julie "A black belt is just a white belt that doesn’t quit". Realizing her mistake, she decides to continue with her lessons. Julie’s new outlook improves her training and her confidence, and it even changes her attitude towards her little brother. Julie’s continuing hard work does result in a yellow belt, as well as new thoughts about the black belt.

This is a good story to share with children. Before Julie signed up for Mr. Fong’s Tiny Tigers kung fu class, Julie believed she knew "all that martial arts stuff already." All she wanted to do was get a black belt, and "get to the real action". But after attending classes two times a week for a period of time, Julie learns it takes perseverance and hard work to earn a black belt. For Julie, kung fu went from being "not worth all that trouble" to being something she could appreciate and have fun learning.

Julie stands out on every page because of the two big purple cat barrettes she wears in her hair. She’s often surrounded by or wearing purple and this creates an energizing, fun mood around her character. When Julie is in the kung fu class, orange and gold colours dominate the illustrations and these colour changes create a more serious mood around the training aspects of the story.

Readers get to know Julie by seeing the inside of her purple embellished bedroom and seeing how she interacts with her family, but the illustrator lets us in on Julie’s thoughts too. On several pages, Julie’s thoughts are illustrated in thought balloons. We see Julie imagining Brandy Wu in action on one page, and on another page we see who Julie envisions as her kung fu teacher. These thought bubbles let us know Julie is an imaginative girl who is often inspired by her thoughts.

Julie has a great family. At the start of the book Julie is shown at home with her parents and her brother. Her family life looks relaxing and fun, and she has a loving relationship with her parents. Julie holds hands with her mom when going into the Martial Arts School, and when she wins her yellow belt, she rushes into her dad’s arms for a hug.

I recommend this book. The characters’ constant state of motion adds excitement to the story. The kung fu classes are filled with male and female racially diverse students, and their cartoon-like appearance will appeal to children. When children read Julie’s story they will understand how important and beneficial it can be to keep going despite difficulties. Julie’s tireless effort and enthusiastic attitude create a positive ending to this story.

Oliver Chin lives in California. During his years at Harvard he was the cartoonist for the Harvard Crimson. His previous works include Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought, and The Adventures of WonderBaby. Charlene Chua is an award-winning illustrator who was born in Singapore. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their cats. She specializes in digital illustration, print and Interaction Design. Her artwork can be seen in magazines, brochures and packaging.

Thematic Links: Kung Fu; Martial Arts; Training; Perseverance

Tanya Boudreau
Vol. 13, number 1
October 2007

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.