Serving up a treat

Drawing inspiration

The book also offers food for thought to younger readers about growing up. It highlights that dreams must be nurtured and not discarded.

The picture book shows how young Li yearned to just watch TV while sipping iced drinks. Instead, she had to stay on court-perpetually running, serving aces and returning the ball with backhands and drop-shots.

"She told us calmly in the interview for the book that she doesn't hate tennis that much, given how it changed her life," he recalls, adding that Li doesn't display much tennis-related memorabilia around her home, especially trophies and medals. "Maybe she would like to give her children more options."

Inside the back cover, there is a selection of photos from Li's childhood, a supplement to the pages of illustrations.

"Younger readers tend to love tales of heroes. Heroes are the ones who accomplish impossible feats, but they start out just like you and me," he says.

Cambridge-based, Chinese-British illustrator Yu Rong feels closely attracted to, and connected with, Li's story. "As a sports fan, also losing a loving father when I was young, the similar experiences inspired me while creating illustrations for the book," Yu says in an email interview with China Daily.

The award-winning illustrator, known for her combined pencil-drawing and paper-cutting skills, chose to present Li's story in a more abstract way.

"Readers will see batches of geometrical shapes and images in bright dynamic colors, and a tennis ball deconstructed into a circular shape or yellowish green color, both of which extended into every double-page spread," Yu says.

She also links relatively realistic depictions of the Yellow Crane Tower from Li's hometown to the Eiffel Tower in Paris where she won her first Grand Slam in 2011.

"Yu's training (both in China and at the Royal College of Art in London), her cultural roots and artistic explorations suit Li's story well. Both are Chinese-born and are influencers. I respect the way she expresses emotion and compassion," A Jia says.