Amy Wu and the patchwork dragon by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua

 Amy Wu, the sweet heroine of Amy Wu and the perfect bao, is back in another adventure, this time with dragons! After storytime at school, featuring typical Western dragons, the children are instructed to make dragons for craft time. Each comes up with their own version of a dragon, including Amy, but her Eastern-style dragon confuses two of her classmates, whose comments make her rethink her craft project.

When she tries to make her dragon just right for her, it doesn't work at all and she ends up having nothing to display on the craft table. Willa and Sam, the two kids who were confused by her dragon, join her after school at her grandmother's house, and she tells them amazing stories of Eastern dragons who fly without wings, have great wisdom, and bring the rain. They find an old dragon costume in the attic and try it on and her friends ask her to bring it to school. The dragon is missing part of its tail and it still doesn't feel... quite right to Amy.

With her parents' support, Amy creates a dragon that is just right for her, with wings, scarves, the Eastern dragon head, and lots and lots of glitter! Her classmates love the dragon and Amy is happy that she has found something that feels just right and is fun too.

Back matter includes a dragon craft with designs to trace and create and an Eastern and Western style dragon with general information about their characteristics.

The art is bright and colorful, showing Amy in a diverse class with a handful of other children, and a range of creative projects and dragons that fit each person's personality, from Willa's plump pink dragon with a string of daisies for a tale to Sam's dragon with postage stamp wings. I will admit that I'm always a bit frustrated by small classes portrayed in picture books - while there are some prek classes in my small town that would have this number of children, they're private schools, small daycares, or our virtual charter school. The kindergartens in the schools range from 18 to 25 kids. I was initially skeptical that the kids wouldn't recognize an Eastern dragon, especially with the popularity of Studio Ghibli films and units on Chinese New Year, but then again I've had preschool kids that couldn't recognize or name basic local animals like river otters (and let's not even get into the 5th grader who suggested the closest relative of a toucan was an aye-aye...) so really one never knows what kids will, or will not, know.

Verdict: A cheerful and exuberant story celebrating the blending of cultures and a warm portrayal of supportive family relationships. Although I didn't love this one quite as much as the first story, it's still delightful and would make a wonderful storytime choice and craft inspiration.

ISBN: 9781534463639; Published December 2020 by Simon & Schuster; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library