Margaret Bateson-Hill
Lao Lao of Dragon Mountain
New Edition
Author: Margaret Bateson-Hill
Illustrator: Francesca Pelizzoli
Previous editions
Chinese Text: Manyee Wan
Papercuts: Sha-Liu Qu
The book was written in consultation and with advice from Jessie Lim from the Lambeth Chinese Community Association
Lao Lao has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Danish and Korean.
Above are some of the different covers.
Paper cutting
The story is inspired by the Chinese craft of paper cutting.
I was fortunate to have Sha-Liu Qu show me how to make the fine zig zag cuts.
Why not have a go yourself.
The Lunar New Year 2024 is the year of the dragon.
Beijing
March 2019 I was lucky enough to visit a school in Beijing, and I visited two great landmarks - The Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City.
I looked out and knew I was looking at my book. Thank you Francesca Pelizzoli for your amazing illustrations.
Chinese Text
The original book had a Chinese text by Manyee Wan.
Here is Lao Lao's rhyme that repeats through the book.
Dragons!
Dragons come in all shapes and sizes. Some are so big, people often mistake them for mountains- however some dragons are so small they can fit in your pocket.Try looking for one in your purse!
And if you find that one of your socks has gone missing, then you may have a sock dragon living in your house. They only eat one sock out of a pair and like to live under the bed or in the washing basket - infact any place where they can get hold of your discarded sock!
In my travels I have met pink flower dragons who look after the garden; pop star dragons who drive around in stretch limos; even footballing dragons with hairy legs and stripey socks- they like to sleep on the cross bar. Take a look at the slide show to be inspired!
Sweet dragon
Termite dragon
Rain Forest Death Trap dragon
Sweet dragon
Resources
