One of the most boastful young men in all of China, Ling Po gets his comeuppance in this fairy-tale from Scottish author Moira Miller and illustrator Ian Deuchar. When an old woman in his village grows tired of his maintaining that he can do everything better than his neighbors, Ling Po is tricked into claiming that he can build a kite capable of taking him to the moon. When this boast comes to the ear of the Emperor of China, who responds that he will greatly honor the man capable of such a feat, Ling Po has no choice but to begin building his "moon dragon..."

Published in 1989, The Moon Dragon is the seventh book I have read from Miller, and the second, after The Proverbial Mouse, that also features artwork from Deuchar. Apparently the two also collaborated on a third picture-book, The Search for Spring, which I have not yet managed to track down. In any case, I found the story here engaging, appreciating its very clear message about the dangers of boasting, rather than working hard. The artwork is lovely, with a vividly colorful palette and expressive human figures. The Library of Congress information on the colophon here lists this as a Chinese folktale, but there is no other information provided about source material, which I find disappointing. Unless personally familiar with the story, I never know in these cases if the tale in question is actually a folktale, or an original creation of the author. Leaving that critique aside, this is one I would recommend to fairy-tale lovers, and to anyone looking for children's stories about the dangers of boasting. ( )