Summary: “Be water, my friend” is a quote from an early ‘70s television interview with Bruce Lee. The book covers his childhood and teenage years and how he came to that philosophy. A restless and hot-headed youth, Bruce Lee had no interest in school and would rather get into fights until he discovered the marital art of the Wing Chun style of kung fu and learned from the master of that style. From his master, he was taught “yielding” and “gentleness” in martial arts and, during a pivotal moment, discovers the metaphor for being like water that would guide him for the rest of his unfortunately short life.
“A fine introduction.” – School Library Journal
“ … an unflinching look at his troubled youth and his ultimate triumph over his own worst enemy: himself “ – The Asian Reporter
“The enlightenment of this wild child is gradual and believable, and so hopeful, as children often make mistakes and need chances at a fresh start. Older children will be inspired by this book as well as younger children, so share it in high school classrooms along with the third grade! Sepia-colored renderings from acrylic/wax scratchboard are unusual, and evocative of the time period. This beautiful multicultural biography with universal appeal packs a real one-two punch.” – PlanetEsme
“Mochizuki deftly portrays Bruce’s conflict between wanting to follow his master’s teachings and wanting to fight when provoked. Dom Lee’s acrylic and beeswax illustrations are somber.” — The Horn Book Guide
“This lyrical picture-book biography of Bruce Lee should be very popular with fans, old and new.” – The Seattle Times
In 2003, Philip Lee, again acting as my editor, visited an exhibit in Seattle of memorabilia that pertained to the late martial arts legend Bruce Lee. He suggested I do a picture book biography of Bruce Lee. Why? was my initial reaction. He’s just the perpetuator of a stereotype (all Asians know martial arts). He still prodded me to check out the exhibit, so I did. I discovered facts about Bruce Lee I didn’t know: that he was born in San Francisco but grew up in Hong Kong, that he was an actor in Hong Kong movies since an infant, that he was a voracious reader and wore thick glasses since he was young, that he was into ballroom dancing before martial arts and became Hong Kong’s cha-cha dance champion of 1958 and was the colony’s inter-high school boxing champ that same year. When I saw the photo of him sitting on the floor and reading before his personal library consisting of over 2,500 books, that’s when I was sold on doing his biography – that young readers should become acquainted with the intellectual, philosophical and spiritual Bruce Lee, that he wasn’t just the superhuman fighting machine as seen in his movies.
Ken Mochizuki 