Chinese / Taiwan
Zai jian de lian xi
(Practicing goodbye)
Lin, Xiaobei
(text/illus.)
Taibei: Shi lu gu shi you xian gong si (SiLoo Story), 2021. – [148] p.
ISBN 978-626-953-470-8
Dog | Humans | Animals | Death | Coping with grief | Graphic novel
Reading age: 12+
White Ravens issue: 2022
Bibi, a dog, has disappeared suddenly. While her owner, a young illustrator, hoards memorabilia in her cramped apartment and dwells on her grieving and worrying, the narrative moves over to the stray dog’s universe. It is full of happiness, timelessness, and freedom. When Bibi eventually returns home, tired and weak, the woman realizes that the dog has just come back to give her a chance to say goodbye, and that she must accept the inescapable reality of his imminent death. Lin Xiaobei uses space, smudging and partial erasure of pencil strokes, light and colour, to create the artist’s and the dog’s different spheres. When sadness fades and the woman ventures out to discover the world anew, colours from the dog’s world trickle into the black-and-white portrayal of the woman’s confined life. Lin Xiaobei, who is published internationally under the pen name Bei Lynn, is an award-winning illustrator of picture books. This graphic novel in the style of a personal notebook is her first work for an older audience. [LO]