Bao's Doll: A Picture Book

by Bo Lu

Overview

Bo Lu’s picture book Bao’s Doll is a moving story of empathy, forgiveness, and connection about an immigrant mother and her daughter who discover they have more in common than they ever knew.

Whenever Mama says, “when I was a little girl in Taiwan, we had nothing,” Bao stops listening. Mama does not understand Bao, and Bao certainly does not understand Mama.

So when Bao desperately wants a doll—specifically, the beautiful, blonde All-American Artist Amanda doll that everyone else has—Bao takes matters into her own hands and steals Amanda from the store. After getting caught, Bao’s chest feels heavy like a giant rock. But gradually, the awkward silence between Bao and Mama shifts to honesty, and eventually, a deeper understanding of what binds them.

Inspired by the childhood of debut talent Bo Lu, this poignant picture book brings emotional layers to the story of a parent and child learning to connect with their heritage and each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419769214
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,016,028
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bo Lu moved from bustling Taipei to suburban Kansas as a little girl. Before English words made sense, the world of picture books welcomed her in. It was in those pictures that she found comfort in her new beginning. As an author and illustrator, she hopes to create a safe space to explore big feelings through images and stories. Bo also finds comfort in slurping noodle soups, exploring the Bay Area Redwoods, and dancing with her girls around their dad at the dinner table. Bao’s Doll is her debut picture book.

Editorial Reviews

05/20/2024

For her birthday, Bao wants cake, balloons, and an expensive “All-American” branded doll like her peers have, but “Mama did not hear that.” Nor does Mama understand Bao’s longing to “share jokes, snuggles, and dreams,” as the girl sees other mothers and daughters do. Instead, Mama describes her childhood in Taiwan (“We had nothing”), and a rift grows between the two. After Bao, desperate over the perceived unfairness, takes a doll from a store shelf and runs for the door, an even larger space crops up between them. Soon, though, they talk about Mama’s upbringing and childhood longing for her own mother, and the two honor “Mama’s memories and Bao’s hopes” by making a doll that resembles them. Digital illustrations that mimic graphite and pastel add deep emotionality to a resonant debut that affirms family as well as cultural heritage. An author’s note concludes. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Lu skillfully juxtaposes simple but poetic language with expressive digital illustrations...Her judicious use of hue and composition...creates a clear visual of the characters’ internal emotional landscapes and the evolution of their relative distance and intimacy."

Horn Book Magazine

"An immigrant story that heals wounds present and past."—Kirkus

"[A] deep emotionality to a resonant debut that affirms family as well as cultural heritage."—Publishers Weekly

"Lu skillfully juxtaposes simple but poetic language with expressive digital illustrations...Her judicious use of hue and composition...creates a clear visual of the characters’ internal emotional landscapes and the evolution of their relative distance and intimacy."—Horn Book Magazine

"[T]his poignant story offers a child-centric discussion of large issues of generational trauma and immigration that will speak to all children who have ever felt as if their caretakers don’t understand."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

08/16/2024

K-Gr 2—Bao wants many things her classmates have: a birthday party with cake and balloons; snuggles and jokes with her mom; and a special doll, Artist Amanda. Every time Bao tries to tell Mama these things, she answers that when she was a little girl in Taiwan, she had nothing. That's when Bao stops listening. Frustrated with her mother, Bao sees the coveted doll in the store, takes her, and is immediately caught. In the aftermath, a giant rock sits between them. After Bao apologizes, Mama opens up about growing up in an orphanage and missing her own mother and the two start to understand each other. Bao is primarily illustrated in red that shifts from cheerful to angry, while her mother is in somber blues, highlighting their separation and isolation. As they open up to one another at the end, the colors start to meld into purple. VERDICT Based on an incident in the author's childhood, this poignant story offers a child-centric discussion of large issues of generational trauma and immigration that will speak to all children who have ever felt as if their caretakers don't understand.—Jennifer Rothschild

School Library Journal

2024-03-23
A girl and her mother bridge a seemingly insurmountable gap.

Other girls have the things that Bao wants: beautiful, blond-haired dolls and mothers who joke and snuggle with their daughters. But Bao, a young Asian child with straight black hair in a bowl cut, has neither. There’s a palpable distance between her and Mama; on one spread, the two look in opposite directions as Mama explains, “When I was a little girl in Taiwan, we had nothing.” Bao has stopped listening; clearly the two don’t understand each other. Desperate, Bao takes matters into her own hands and shoplifts a coveted doll, but she’s caught immediately. A spread depicting a huge boulder between the two makes clear that the distance separating them has grown. But when Bao apologizes, Mama tells her about how she grew up in an orphanage, and Bao begins to understand her mother better. Mama shows Bao a box of items "filled with bittersweet memories," and as mother and daughter open up, they find common ground in sewing a new doll “from Mama’s memories and Bao’s hopes.” Lu’s illustrations are colorful and soft, with stylistically plump figures and airy textures. The red of Bao’s overalls and the blue of Mama’s dress dominate, with accents, colors, and sketchy grays bringing details into the fore- or background. Generational trauma looms large but is tempered by the optimistic ending.

An immigrant story that heals wounds present and past. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews