Qin Wenjun

A little girl in little red boots explores her garden after a rain shower in this lovely, contemplative picture-book from China. Each creature or object she encounters, from the earthworm to the leaf, provides the little girl with an imaginary entry into a different experience, and another way of viewing the post-rainstorm world. The peach blossoms are "especially well dressed, as if waiting," while the dragonfly rests on the little girl's finger, "as if he is an emerald ring with a pair of silver wings." It is as if, the narrative informs us, the girl can understand all of creation around her...

Originally published in Chinese as 好像 ("hao xiang," which translates as "it seems"), As If...As If... is a beautiful book, one that was inspired, according to author Wenjun Qin's afterword, by a walk through New York City's Central Park, during a family stay in that city. The text is gentle and dreamy, effectively communicating the mood and feeling of a wet world after rainfall, while the illustrations, done by Xun Liu in oil paint (I believe), are soft and likewise dreamy, capturing the enchantment and beauty of the natural world. I haven't read too many picture-books translated from Chinese, so I'm happy that the Australian publisher of this one, Starfish Bay Publishing, based in Adelaide, has made Wenjun Qin's book available to the English-language market. There were one or two minor textual hiccups (verb/subject agreement, and the like) that I noticed, but overall I enjoyed this translation. I will definitely be looking for more from both this author and this illustrator. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books translated from the Chinese, as well as those searching for children's stories about the beauty of nature, and the power of imagination to connect us to nature.… (més)