Demi, calligraphy by Jeanyee Wong,
Su Dongpo/ Chinese Genius
Lee & Low, 2006.

Ages 8+

Demi has done it again and produced yet another masterpiece!  When I first opened Su Dongpo and flicked through the pages, it took my breath away – the illustrations are truly exquisite, all touched with her now signature gilding, both literally and metaphorically.    The rich hues of lapis and jade, crimson and purple stand out from every page.  Many of the illustrations have that translucent quality of painting on velvet or silk; the incident of Su Dongpo’s immensely practical and wise judgement over a poor fan seller is depicted against a background echoing the plain, simply lacquered fans themselves; members of the imperial family, meanwhile, are set against rich damasks; and the pages themselves suggest the texture of woven cloth.  Demi conveys airiness and a wealth of detail at the same time: expansive landscapes in which people are tiny, but finely executed.  Animals too: a very pink pig against the brown of the turbulent, flooded Yellow River; small jungle creatures watching Su Dopong writing poetry in his ‘shabby little hut’.

Thus the illustrations alone would make this a book to be treasured -  but Demi more than ably also tells us the story of Su Dongpo’s life and allows it to resonate today as clearly as it must have done in China nearly a thousand years ago.  Famous as a true statesman, scholar and artist/poet in his own lifetime, his wisdom, humanity and resilience are as equally valid in today’s society.  Born Su Shih, he grew up in a family which valued learning and education.  By the age of eleven, ‘His painting was an act of magic’.  When he was twenty, he and his brother made the long journey to Kaifeng ‘the great capital’ to take official exams – and imagine having to sit an exam that lasted two days!  From that time his life was to progress as a rollercoaster of immense success and popularity, and (unjust) exile, until his final ‘triumphal return’, just before his death, when ‘thousands of people crowded the riverbanks and highways just to see him pass’.  It was during his first period of exile, when he ‘began a new life of being unknown’, that he acquired the new name Su Dongpo.  All the time, he was writing poetry, and Demi inserts examples throughout her text, as well as quotations both from contemporary descriptions of Su Dupong and  from the Tao Te Ching, the spiritual text which guided him throughout his life. 

As a reading book, this is a stunning picture book, suitable also for the older reader seeking an introduction to Su Dongpo.  It would be mistaken, however, to think of it as ‘too difficult’ for younger children.  With its powerful pictorial representation and simple prose contrasting with the rich language of Su Dupong’s poetry, albeit in translation, it can be dipped into by teachers and parents to read aloud extracts and offer pause for thought.  It is not difficult to see why Su Dongpo is one of Demi’s heroes.

Marjorie Coughlan
November 2006