Guest Author - Taisha Turner

Catherine Louis exposes the world of calligraphy in Lui and the Bird A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy. The reader along with Liu takes a look at the Chinese written language. Lui leaves her home one morning to visit her beloved grandfather. Along the journey she meets different people and sees many sights.

Shanghai, China born Feng Xiao Min’s calligraphy evolves from pictures to modern Chinese calligraphy characters. For example, on Lui’s journey she sees mountains. Feng Xiao Min draws a picture of the mountains in one box. In the second box, he draws an abstract representation of the mountains. In the third and last box, he places the modern Chinese calligraphy character for mountains.

Feng Xiao Min does this with many of the items and people Lui meets on her journey to her grandfather’s house. The reader sees the evolution from a picture of a woman to the modern Chinese character for woman. He does this for a field, rice, feather and many other items. Concepts, like follow and rest are deconstructed into modern Chinese calligraphy characters.

Catherine Louis’s Lui and the Bird A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy is much more than the calligraphy lessons. It is a pleasant story of a girl going to visit her grandfather. We travel with this delightful girl and see the wonders she experiences during the journey. Whether they are trees in a forest or an old man making a parasol, Catherine Louis’s illustrations exhibit them to the reader. Her pictures are like Japanese block prints with strong black brush strokes outlining the characters and scenery.

Lui and the Bird A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy ends with several activity ideas for children. This book is a great introduction to the world of modern Chinese calligraphy and its evolution from pictures. Take an interest in calligraphy and try a new style of writing. That is the aim of the Southeast Asia site, to introduce readers to different segments of the Asian culture.

Need a calligraphy kit? Take a moment and review this one or one of the others on the site. Remember animal bristles are better than man-made ones. The brush strokes draw definite and clear.



Relax to the sound of wind chimes while reading a book or doing calligraphy. The nine bells tinkle in the breeze.