YES!! It was a book about a Kite Festival-- which could mean that it was Korean, Japanese, or Chinese, though I think in the story line, it was a Chinese community/competition which was featured.
I can almost see the illustrations. Not wood-block prints, though it was stylized and vaguely Japanese in illustrative style, if that makes sense. Limited color palette, heavy lines.
I associate the story with "The Seven Chinese Brothers," "RikiTikkiTembo" and "The Boy Who Drew Cats," probably because my mother (an elementary teacher) tended to group books thematically like that.