San Mateo author's latest children’s book focuses on need for balance

“You’d be surprised how ready kids are to talk about serious topics and how much they observe in their real life,” Cheng said. “What picture books serve to do is to provide a safe space for kids to explore that topic in an approachable way.” 

Illustrated by Dan Santat, this picture book provides a rich story rooted in Chinese culture that Cheng said is “beautifully depicted” and brought the book to life.

“Picture books are truly a dance between words and illustration,” she said. “The key is that you don’t always want to illustrate exactly what the words say, they should complement each other, just like Dragon and Phoenix complement each other.”

There’s a special need for quality picture books, Cheng said, because of the relationship it can build between a child and the adults in their lives. 

“It’s not just reading the book, it’s your kid sitting in your lap and you’re reading the book together; you’re reading the words and she’s turning the pages,” Cheng said. “It creates a cornerstone in how you’re interacting with your kid.” 

When Cheng wrote this story, she wanted every reader to identify with it. The dynamic between dragon and phoenix is typically related to that of a husband and wife, Cheng said, but she wanted that partnership to be applicable to all possible dynamics. 

“I wrote the story purposely without any pronouns because I wanted people to be able to see the dragon and the phoenix within themselves,” Cheng said. “At the end I have an author’s note that said ‘I hope you find a friend or a loved one who can be the dragon to your phoenix and the phoenix to your dragon’ because that’s the beauty of that relationship, that yin and yang.” 

After unintentionally writing white characters in the beginning of her career, Cheng said once she embraced writing characters who are Asian American, her stories became more potent and honest. Rooted in her own experiences and understandings of the world, she said this came through in her writing and readers were ultimately able to relate more. 

“We can have these commonalities but also be uniquely different,” Cheng said. “Something that is so important in representation is to have ways that we can universally connect with each other while adding unique aspects of our lived experiences.”

Jenna Smith, publicist for Penguin Young Readers, said Cheng’s books and the representation found in them reach farther than the community reflected in the characters. 

“Her children’s books all distill these relatable experiences down to something kids can understand so that they feel seen and heard, while highlighting bits of Chinese culture for readers who may not have known about them before,” Smith said in an email. 

Learning about different cultures and ideologies is the first step in developing empathy, Cheng said, and empathy is the first step toward understanding the importance of equity and diversity and representation. She said children’s books are a great way to start that lesson.

“That empathy piece is so much easier to grasp when you’re bringing it through stories for kids, stories that get them excited, that get people talking, that get them thinking about it at a very young age so that they can process it as they grow,” Cheng said.

Cheng will be on a panel with fellow children’s book authors at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley May 4. You can find more information about this and her other upcoming events at charlotte.art/events.