This book tells the story of Liu's magical trip to her grandfather's house using the history of Chinese calligraphy to help tell the tale. Along the way she meets a bird, a man resting under a tree and various other characters that help guide her to her grandfather's house. When she finally arrives, her grandfather asks her to tell him about her journey not with her mouth, but with her hands drawing pictures of what she saw.
The unique illustrations of the book depict Liu's journey, but also certain vocabulary words that are pointed out and then broken down in Chinese calligraphy. They show the history of certain words in Chinese calligraphy. It is interesting to see the evolution of certain words. The end of the book suggests activity ideas such as "make up your own symbols" that I think would be useful in a classroom. The students would be learning about another culture's way of communicating and then trying to make it relate to their own lives. This book may be a bit harder to read out loud, but if you guide the students along with the illustrations on the side I think it could be a useful teaching tool.