Guojing

Lush illustrations in a nearly wordless graphic novel narrate a child’s vacation with Lao Lao, her much-loved grandmother. The story Lao Lao tells the girl about a flamingo connects them in a fantastic and a totally fulfilling conclusion after the girl returns home.

Structured like a graphic novel, sequential panels of painterly illustrations portray a family living in a home by the sea. Ultimately, the sea rises and so the family must move the house. [An author’s note in Pencil by Hye-eun Kim — an evocative tale of a pencil’s journey from tree to tool — describes how to successfully share a “silent book.”]