Woodpecker Girl

Chingyen Liu

ISBN 10: 1478869550 / ISBN 13: 9781478869559

Published by Reycraft Books, 2020

Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00078299024

Synopsis:

Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2021

 

School Library Journal Best Book Winner 2020

 

Based on an actual story, a girl with cerebral palsy feels trapped in her body and unable to communicate. It causes her to grunt in anger, scaring off children and making it impossible to make friends. When her art teacher straps a paintbrush to her head, the children nickname her "Woodpecker Girl". But the girl begins to paint her thoughts and feelings and her talent bursts through. Illustrator Huang mimicked the girl's style for the book and the girl's real paintings are displayed in the backmatter.

 

A Note from Yipei's mother:

 

Yipei is such a lucky girl because she is surrounded by family and teachers who love her. She couldn't hold a pencil, so her teachers first taught her to draw using a computer. At that time, she was drawing random lines and applying layers of color. She truly learned to draw and paint after she finished junior high school. Her vocational teacher at the National Hemei Experimental School, Mr. Chi-hai Tsai, immediately believed in her and accepted her into the art department.

 

He carefully observed her and realized that what she could control most was her head. That's when he got the idea to create the headset – a headband with a paintbrush attached – for her to use to paint. Everything started from that magical moment. Yipei went from black-and-white paintings to colorful paintings and from simple thick lines to thin lines with delicate dotted images.

 

What my daughter has achieved is beyond our imagination. Yipei could never be the woodpecker painter without Mr. Tsai. Every time I see Yipei wearing her headset-nodding and nodding and nodding to dot the paper with paints – I worry she will get too tired. But whenever I ask her, "Are you tired now? Do you need to rest?" she always says, "Of course I am tired, but I like painting so much." I think painting brings her both happiness and a sense of achievement. It has broadened her view of life and truly made it colorful.

About the Authors:

Chingyen Liu writes children’s books and hosts radio and TV shows. When he first met Yipei, on whom Woodpecker Girl is based, he was amazed at her talent and drive to overcome her physical limitations due to cerebral palsy. Watching her paint helped him decide how to write and structure the book. He worked closely with I-Tsun Chiang, a professor of special education at National Taiwan Normal University, to review and edit the story. Mr. Chiang has been working for years helping people with multiple handicaps, including cerebral palsy.

Heidi Doll enjoys nature, animals, and long walks, but most important, painting. She lives by the sea in Taiwan. She was deeply moved by the story of Yipei because she shares the same passion for painting but has none of the physical limitations. She decided to combine some of Yipei’s artwork in this book and mimic her style and brighter color choices. She drew a woodpecker on every spread to represent Yipei to encourage her to soar with her ideas and talents. The rabbit throughout the book represents her as the guardian of Yipei’s dreams. She hopes the book glitters like the nighttime stars in the hearts of the children all over the world who read it.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Woodpecker Girl
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Publication Date: 2020
Binding: Soft cover
Illustrator: Heidi Doll
Condition: Very Good