Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist

by Julie Leung, Chris Sasaki (Illustrator)

Overview

Winner of the American Library Association's 2021 Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Picture Book!

An inspiring picture-book biography of animator Tyrus Wong, the Chinese American immigrant responsible for bringing Disney's Bambi to life.

Before he became an artist named Tyrus Wong, he was a boy named Wong Geng Yeo. He traveled across a vast ocean from China to America with only a suitcase and a few papers. Not papers for drawing—which he loved to do—but immigration papers to start a new life. Once in America, Tyrus seized every opportunity to make art, eventually enrolling at an art institute in Los Angeles. Working as a janitor at night, his mop twirled like a paintbrush in his hands. Eventually, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime—and using sparse brushstrokes and soft watercolors, Tyrus created the iconic backgrounds of Bambi.

Julie Leung and Chris Sasaki perfectly capture the beautiful life and work of a painter who came to this country with dreams and talent—and who changed the world of animation forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524771874
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	99,651
Product dimensions:	11.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

JULIE LEUNG is the author of the Mice of the Round Table series, including A Tail of Camelot, Voyage to Avalon, and most recently, Merlin's Last Quest. This is her first picture book. In her free time, she enjoys furtively sniffing books at bookstores and winning obscure board games. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives in New York City, where she works as a marketing director at Del Rey Books. Visit her on the web at jleungbooks.com and follow her on Twitter at @jleungbooks.

CHRIS SASAKI is a former character designer and illustrator for Pixar Animation Studios, where he has designed characters for Monsters University and Inside Out. His work has been featured at Gallery Nucleus, on Cartoon Brew, in the New York Times, and in the Society of Illustrators annual. He lives in Oakland, California. Visit him on the web at csasaki.com.

Editorial Reviews

Leung presents Tyrus's story in direct and engaging prose…Chris Sasaki's digital illustrations create just the right mood, with appealing characters and a 1940s color scheme.

The New York Times Book Review - Nina Crews

07/08/2019

In 1919, a boy and his father emigrate from China to the United States. There, the child is separated from his parent and “taken to a wooden house filled with strangers... Days turned to weeks. This new land was not what he had expected.” After he struggles to clear immigration with an assumed identity, the boy, eventually known as Tyrus Wong, makes his way as an artist, working his way through art school as a janitor before landing a job at Walt Disney Studios. His lush illustrations, influenced by the evocative spareness of Chinese art and calligraphy, became the signature look of Bambi, though Wong is credited “only as a background artist” for his contributions to the film. Sasaki’s appealing illustrations, which blend midcentury stylization with classical Chinese art, complement Leung’s sensitive and skillful telling of Wong’s chillingly timely story. An endnote offers additional details about Wong’s life and career. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"“A beautiful, must-read tribute to hardworking families and the magic they create." —Kirkus, starred review

"[A] gorgeous picture book biography about an unsung hero of animation and Chinese American history." —Booklist, Starred Review

“Confidential, fluid prose deftly captures the stress and strangeness of his immigration experience and his artistic blossoming and impact…. A window into the troubled history of transpacific immigration and a look at a long-undersung contributor to our visual landscapes.” —Bulletin

 “A well-told story that spotlights the too-often unrecognized talent and contributions of America’s immigrants.” —School Library Journal

“A meaningful portrayal of one working-class experience and an image of a loving, hardworking family.”  —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

09/01/2019

PreS-Gr 3—From humble origins as a nine-year-old Chinese immigrant with false papers, Tyrus Wong challenged adversity to become a professional artist. Celebrated as the man behind the design for Disney's Bambi, Wong worked for other film studios as well. Leung's smooth exposition emphasizes the difficulties facing young Wong Geng Yeo, who traveled in 1921 under the identity of Look Tai Yow, a merchant's son, in order to evade the restrictions of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Days of practice on the long voyage allowed him to pass his immigration interview and be released to join his father, but only after an extended detention on Angel Island. Wong finished high school and art school, but continued to face discrimination as a Disney employee. Sasaki's digital illustrations portray him as the single non-white man among a group of Disney animators drawing the repetitive "in between" frames of movies. The art often reflects the style of Chinese watercolor and ink paintings. One notable spread shows the artist working as a janitor, swirling his mop trails to paint a running horse on a tile floor. Other images are stylized but recognizable and appropriate to the mood and the period. The helpful back matter includes author and illustrator notes and photos from the Wong family albums, including his immigration card. The endpapers feature the kites Wong designed and flew on the beach near his California home. VERDICT A well-told story that spotlights the too-often unrecognized talent and contributions of America's immigrants.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

School Library Journal

2019-06-23
As the boat sailed from China to America, Wong memorized the minutiae of another boy's life.

In 1919, the Chinese Exclusion Act allowed only high-status immigrants into the U.S. So 9-year-old Wong became a "paper son," taking on the identity of a merchant's son. Luckily, Wong passed the grueling immigration interview. After art school, bored by the tedium of "in-betweener" work at Disney Studios, Wong saw his chance to prove himself when Walt Disney announced his next movie, Bambi. Drawing on Felix Salten's novel, his own personal experiences, and his training in both Eastern and Western artistic styles, Wong created lush, impressionistic landscapes inspiring the look of the entire movie. Unfortunately, Wong's work was largely unrecognized; however, he never stopped making art, exploring many media. Digital illustrations emphasize precise details and shape repetition, creating a geometric counterpoint to organic washes of color and loose, impressionistic backgrounds inspired by Wong's work on Bambi. The brief narrative moves swiftly, lingering on just two key moments: Wong's immigration and the making of Bambi. The author's note provides more information about the Chinese Exclusion Act, the proliferation of paper sons and daughters, and additional details about and photos of Wong. Unfortunately, neither text nor backmatter share contextual information about the reasons for immigration, benefits and sacrifices of immigration, or the racial prejudice Wong faced both personally and professionally.

A visually engaging introduction to a little-known yet influential American artist (Picture book/biography. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews