The Boy Who Painted Dragons

by Demi

Smoke, fire, dragons, wisdom, fear, and bravery...All of these elements are brought to life by award-winning author and artist Demi in a story of valor in the face of overwhelming fear.

With splashes of color and dramatic detail, a boy named Ping decorates his home with paintings of dragons. While they seem to be a proclamation of his love for dragons, they are actually an expression of his deepest fear. The Heavenly Dragon visits Ping after being impressed with the boy's outward declaration of love and respect for dragons and presents the boy with three pearls of wisdom. With bold and expansive illustrations that sweep across the pages, Demi's triumphant tale proves that the greatest fear of fear itself is one that can be conquered with truth and bravery.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Dragons, Fantasy, Asia, China, Fiction

42 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 2007

About the author

Demi (September 2, 1942) born Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt, is an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. During her career she has published over 300 titles.

Demi was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the great-grand daughter of the American painter William Morris Hunt, and the great-grand niece of architect Richard Morris Hunt. Demi earned her nickname as a young child when her father started calling her demi because she was half the size of her sister.

She studied art at Instituto Allende, Mexico, and with Sister Corita at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. She was a Fulbright scholar at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India where she received her Master’s degree.

Demi is known for her biographies for spiritual figures including Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), Muhammad, Rumi, Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama.

In 1990, Demi and her husband Tze-si “Jesse” Huang represented the United States at the First Children’s International Book Conference in Beijing.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[J9]

This is our second Demi and we love it. The pictures are amazing. The dragons were huge and so colorful! They even used gold and silver foil on the dragons and we all enjoyed looking at the pictures. Like Demi's last book, the illustrations were what really caught our attention, although the story was fun and engaging as well. A nice look into the Asian culture from the viewpoint of a child. Highly recommended.

[Braelyn]

Fantasy. 2007. This book has a great message. The boy in the story paints beautiful dragons, even though dragons are what he fears most. Facing your fears and coming up with a solution to face them is a very important lesson that can be taught through this story. I also like that you can learn a little bit about the Chinese culture from this story.

[Terra Bee]

The art for this story is beautiful. I find myself dragging my fingers across the page thinking they are going to be textured, silky, or warm. It's a story that doesn't hide it's meaning behind metaphors but states it outright. Face Your Fears and learn from them.

[Makenna Teague]

Ping, a talented young boy who secretly fears the dragons whose images he paints. As he attempts to hide his fear, he covers every possible surface with brilliant golden dragons. He paints dragons because he 'loves them.'

[Claire Wrobel]

I was wowed by this book. The gold accents immediately caught my attention, and I loved the traditional Chinese style. I loved how Demi used different fabrics for textures. The story rings true of traditional Chinese folk tales and the illustrations make this a masterpiece.

[R. G. Nairam]

STUNNING illustrations and a good story, too.

[Peacegal]

Wonderful, eye-catching illustrations fill the pages in this story of bravery and art.

[Erica Flory]

love love love it

[Jbondandrews]

Loved the illustrations but the story wasn't as good as the Tutakhamun one.

[Abigail]

Terrified of dragons since the day he first encountered one, the young artist Ping draws them constantly, pretending to the other children that he loves them, and is not afraid. When the Heavenly Dragon visits him, he immediately perceives what Ping's true motivations are, and leaves him with three pearls of wisdom: Seek Your Truth, Find Your Truth, and Dare to Be True. With these in hand, Ping seeks out the Water Dragon, Fire Dragon, Earth Dragon and Wind Dragon, gaining wisdom and contentment from each. Returning home, he begins to paint dragons with true joy...

Published in 2007, The Boy Who Painted Dragons was followed in quick succession by The Girl Who Drew a Phoenix (2008), which also tells the story of a young artist who gains wisdom. Although clearly steeped in Chinese tradition and folk beliefs, it appears to be an original fairy-tale of author/artist Demi's own creation, one which seeks to inculcate values of courage, and of openness to new experience and learning. The story is engaging, and while not traditional, reads as it it were, with a quest narrative that will prove quite engrossing for young readers. The accompanying artwork, created using paint, ink and Chinese silk brocade, is simply gorgeous, and with its vivid colors, detailed depictions and bright gold accents, will reward a thorough and repeated perusal. Recommended to young folk and fairy-tale fans, to children who love dragons or wish to become artists, and to anyone seeking pictures books about courage and the quest for wisdom.

[Calista]

Stunning artwork. The whole book is filled with beautiful paintings of dragons in an Asian style. If you love artwork, this book is amazing.

The story is about a boy who loves painting dragons because he is scared of them, so he paints them to not be scared. One day a dragon visits him and he realizes he needs to go on a journey, so he meets all these different dragons that give him wisdom.

There are several fold out pages to see these giant dragons. I'm just amazed by the artwork here. So beautiful and the story is fun as well. Ping has no personality other than he paints dragons, but it's not about Ping, it's about the dragons.

[Sandy]

I'm a Demi groupie. This was a lovely story about a boy named Ping who drew dragons to conquer his fear of them. The dragons were honored and when the king of the dragons visited him, encouraged him to find the truth. Through his journey the different dragons presented him with a series of gifts in the form of pearls of wisdom. He collects Goodness from the Water dragon, Purity from the Fire dragon, Acceptance from the Earth dragon and Clarity from the Wind dragon. Ping had sought the truth, found the truth and dared to be true.

[Danielle T]

Ngl, I'm still shocked that Demi is a white lady even though I learned this a few years ago- maybe a combination of "Liang and the Magic Paintbrush" on Reading Rainbow and all her books in the Asia for Kids catalog we used to get. Anyway, a gorgeously illustrated picture book about facing your fears and finding your truth to live it, and joy in that adventure. Lots of big foldouts of lush, colorful dragons and beautiful brocade fabric filling in the dragons, background, or Ping's clothes.

[Tony Pope]

A wonderful story with some of the most amazing and colorful images of Chinese dragons you will ever see in a picture book!

[Kae]

This inspirational story for children is accompanied by intensely stunning artwork.

[Jessica]

I liked this book, but not quite as much as I have liked other books by this author. The pictures were still good, story was okay.

[Rebecca Cavey]

3.5 stars

[Jan]

In Chinese mythology, magnificent dragons rule the heavens. They make the rain fall to earth, as well as make comets, meteor showers, thunder and lightning. One of their great duties is to dispense pearls of heavenly wisdom. One day, they looked down from heaven and saw a boy named Ping painting huge extravagant pictures of dragons. Ping was terrified of dragons, but the Heavenly Dragons didn't know that. One dragon liked Ping's dragon paintings and wanted to visit him. The Heavenly Dragon was amazed to find that Ping was painting his fears. How can the Heavenly Dragon help Ping overcome his fears?

Demi illustrates this picture book with glorious, rich paintings splashed across every page. They are rendered in paint, ink, and gold, with Chinese silk brocade. Some pages are folded, and need careful handling to prevent damage. Ages 5-7.

[Jenne]

I wanted to give this 5 stars but found, like its counterpart, The Girl Who Drew A Phoenix, the moral was convoluted in such a way that young readers must struggle to understand it. Both books would stimulate engaging conversation with 8-10 year old children who have a background in moral and religious learning experiences. I would vote these into the family library and come back to them throughout childhood. With focus on seeking wisdom and truth, these lessons are applicable across many traditions and cultures.

[funny dot J]

This is a unique picture book with amazing drawing. Dragon is a mystical creature in Asian folklore that projects power and instills fear on people, while at other times, inspires courage and strength. The illustrations with the gold-foil painting are bold and powerful, like the Chinese dragon dance. This story describes the dragon in this mystical and symbolic fashion, without a strong moral story-line, but says that if a person draws a dragon, he or she can overcome fear and gain courage and wisdom.

[S.N. Arly]

Another beautiful book by Demi.

This is essentially a fairy tale about a boy gaining wisdom and facing his fears. Written with an obvious (but not overbearing) Buddhist influence, it uses the architecture and archetypal dragons of of China past. The illustrations are beautiful, shiny and bright. My 4 and 6 year old loved this.

Of note, Demi has written another book with a female protagonist that makes an ideal companion - The Girl Who Drew a Phoenix.

[Kathleen]

Just by chance, I read this book right after reading Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales about the artist Frida Kahlo. Both books had strong themes about having fears and redirecting that fear through creating artwork. It is a truly beautiful concept, and artistic, creative children will benefit from reading The Boy Who Painted Dragons. The illustrations are jaw-dropping magical and add even more meaning to the tale.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin]

“For children of all ages who seek the Truth, find the Truth, and dare to be True,” states the author—and for those who are secretly afraid to confront their dragons and receive the gifts they hold; spellbinding illustrations of the dragons in all of their terrible magnificence. 6 stars!

[Melanie Hetrick]

Ping loves dragons but he is also terrified of them, but that does not keep him from painting beautiful dragons. He paints them everywhere. The Heavenly Dragons sent a dragon to bestow a gift on Ping: 3 pearls of wisdom of truth. Ping uses these pearls of wisdom to teach himself not to be afraid of the dragons and to earn additional pearls of wisdom from them.

[Margaret Chind]

As a quilter I love fabric, and this is a very neat way to illustrate a children's book using silk fabric as the dragons bodies. While the story is pretty good and interesting on working toward understanding your fears and living with them, it is the illustrations that I like. A pretty good library find.

[Alicia]

A little boy has a compulsion to paint dragons whenever he can, but he's terrified of them, so he must face his fears over the coarse of the book. This was my first experience with Demi and it was quite wonderful. The pictures are brilliant-- so many vibrant colors to move the reader along. Lovely.

[Hung Van]

This book had so many great pictures! The colors are amazing and it is a story that was very interesting to read. It would be more suited towards intermediate, due to the fact that I believe the primary grades may have a difficult time following along in the story.

[Veronica]

I'm working on creating a booklist for my local public library. This book was one in consideration for this list.

This will not be going on my list. It has very little to do with the subject matter. I found the actual moral, to be true to oneself, quite convoluted as well.

[Jordan Walker]

I read this to my daughter and she loved it, being she's already a huge fan of dragons just like me. The story was well written and the illustrations were fantastic. The book had a super traditional Japanese feel! I totally recommend it. I might even buy it honestly!

[Heather]

A great book about overcoming fears....beautiful pictures. Emma loves it!