Sunday, February 28, 2016

Jimmy Liao - by Olivia Wang

Jimmy Liao
In 1958, Jimmy Liao was born in Taiwan. The name Jimmy is his English first name which brought about his (phonetic) Chinese pen name, 几米. Jimmy worked in an advertisement company for twelve years. However, working in such a company restricted him to display all his talents, because most his ideas were forced to revise,copied or plagiarized. He, then, gave up the job in advertisement company and moved up to work as an illustrator for newspaper and magazines. In 1995, Jimmy survived a battle with leukemia and started devoting himself heart and soul to his art. 
Secrets in the Forest,1998

Fortunately, in 1998, after three years of fighting with leukemia, he was pronounced upon the mend and then convalescent. 





Secrets in the Forest,1998

At the same year, his picture books Secrets in the Forest and A Fish with A Simile were published in Taiwan. These two books earned him several book awards and were regarded as “The Best Children’s Books”.


His books have also been adapted for theater, movie, television, and animation.
Turn Left Turn Right,2013
Turn Left Turn Right,1999


Jimmy's simple but powerful words usually narrates his story and life with sobering and resonating.


Metro Sleepwalking,2011
"I enjoy lying against you, at an angle of 45 degrees.
I will be happy anywhere in the world.
Before falling in right angles, 
do hold me tenderly at a straight angle."






Metro Sleepwalking,2011
"You know, 
whenever we feel happy and content,
an umbrella borrowed from a
magician would always play
some kind of little trick..."








I really enjoy reading Jimmy's picture book. Although he usually describes a little lonely, tragic or frustrated world, as his experience with leukemia, in his lots of stories, I can still read his message of hope.

Sources:
 1.Wikipedia,"Jimmy Liao",Wikipedia,2016. Web. 28 Feb.  2016<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Liao>
  2.Jimmy Liao,Secret in the Forest,Taiwan. Kanunu. Web. 28 Feb 2016.
  3.Jimmy Liao,Turn Left Turn Right,Taiwan. Kanunu. Web. 28 Feb 2016.
 4.Jimmy Liao,Turn Metro Sleepwalking,Taiwan. Kanunu. Web. 28 Feb 2016.



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