For hundreds of years the village people who live high in the hills of Thailand have been making umbrellas, all of them painted by the women and girls. Noot has helped her father build the umbrellas and has helped her grandmother make the paper, but this year she begs her mother to help her paint the designs on the umbrellas. She proves herself worthy, but she soon tires of copying the traditional flowers and butterflies and begins to paint elephants. When the king arrives to choose the most beautiful umbrella and crown the Umbrella Queen at the New Year’s Day festivities, he chooses Noot’s umbrella because she paints from the heart. Full-color linoleum prints with pencil convey the setting. djg