Recommend to Preteen to Young Adult: Ages 9+.
Beautifully written, timeless tales by Cao Wenxuan, best-selling Chinese author and 2016 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. For more titles, please find the title list.
1. 《青铜葵花》Bronze and Sunflower
Publication Date: April 2005
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Pages: 400 | Reading age: 9-12 years
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, Romanian, Turkish, Spanish, Vietnamese, English, German, Italian, Korean, Slovenia Language, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Arabic
Awards: Bingxin Literature Prize, National Book Award, National Five Top Project Award. The English translation was a 2017 Kirkus Finalist, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2017, and has been nominated for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults award, Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature – Best Books of 2017. Helen Wang’s English translation of Bronze and Sunflower earned her the 2017 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation.)
Sunflower is an only child, and when her father is sent to the rural Cadre School, she has to go with him. Her father is an established artist from the city and finds his new life of physical labor and endless meetings exhausting. Sunflower is lonely and longs to play with the local children in the village across the river. When her father tragically drowns, Sunflower is taken in by the poorest family in the village, a family with a son named Bronze. Until Sunflower joins his family, Bronze was an only child, too, and hasn’t spoken a word since he was traumatized by a terrible fire. Bronze and Sunflower become inseparable, understanding each other as only the closest friends can. Translated from Mandarin, the story meanders gracefully through the challenges that face the family, creating a timeless story of the trials of poverty and the power of love and loyalty to overcome hardship.
To read [Bronze and Sunflower’s] adventures is to be embedded in the Chinese countryside — for good and bad. The daily circumstances of their lives may be different from those of American children, but the emotions and relationships are universal.—The New York Times Book Review
2. 《山羊不吃天堂草》Goats Do Not Eat Heaven Grass
Publication Date: March 2005
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
This is a vivid and easy-to-read and intriguing novel. A group of hungry sheep, in the face of a noble and attractive “paradise grass” but refused to bow their heads. A few days later, they die. Because of the pressure of life, the protagonist of the novel has to leave home and follow the teacher to the outside world to make a living, but they never seem to be able to enter that world.
3. 《草房子》The Straw Hut/The Grass House
Publication Date: March 2005
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Pages: 276 | Reading age: 9-12
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, Serbian, Arabic, Nepali, Italian, Korean, German, Vietnamese, English, Spanish, and Japanese
Awards: Bingxin Literature Prize, 4th National Book Award, National Five Top Project Award, 5th Song Qingling Literature Prize, 19th Golden Rooster Award for Best Writing (1999), Huabiao Award (1998), 14th Tehran International Film Festival – the Golden Butterfly Prize
Grass House is a full-length novel for young readers unfolding around the protagonist Sangsang and mainly describing his six-year primary school life. For Sangsang, the life in primary school is quite unforgettable, for he witnesses many tear-drawing things and even gets involved in many, such as the friendship of the teenagers, the tempering of hardships, experiencing the beauty of life in death, comprehending the true meaning of life, etc.
I first read Mr. Cao Wenxuan’s Grass House when I was ten years old. At that time, I could not read all the words, but I had an intuition that it was a very beautiful book with a very beautiful story. It seems that its story is very simple, but the text is like water, can slowly flow into the heart, the restless heart wash. Now, when I return to the setting as a 20-year-old adult, I still can’t help but be moved by those kind people in the story. I can see the dreamlike water town, where the grass houses shine like metal in the sun. —By Douban ID大壮
4. 《根鸟》The Bird
Publication Date: March 2005
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
A young girl went to the cliff to collect flowers and fell into the gorge. She appeared in the dream of a teenager called Bird. Bird set out to find their own dream. Crossing deserts, grasslands, mountains, villages, canyons, small towns, one scene after another. Bird grows up between reality and fantasy. He decided to make dream as his horse to get through his upbringing. This is a fascinating novel, which lets you walk in the dream, and also experience true life.
5. 《细米》The Thin Rice
Publication Date: January 2006
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Pages: 400 | Reading age: 9-12
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, German, Korean, Italian and Japanese.
Junior Thin Rice is an unruly country boy. He and his cousin grew up together. The day flowed naturally like water. However, one day, the river floated a huge white sail, with a group of girls as if from the heavenly kingdom. These women from Suzhou City brought a fresh and charming atmosphere. One of them called Mei Wen has extraordinary and charming spiritual strength, leading the young Thin Rice into a new growth process.
I have just finished reading this book, there is not much excitement, only a kind of slow emotion flowing like Cao Wenxuan’s words in this book. I really like the details in the book: Xi Mi took Mei Wen to see his own paintings, showed her sculptures, and share his unique and beautiful night scene, that watchtower…everything that Xi Mi did for Mei Wen, Mei Wen was right in the heart. This is a book that needs to be savored carefully. You must read slowly and carefully to feel the delicate emotions! —By Douban ID 小麦
6. 《蜻蜓眼》Glass Eye Beads
Publication Date: July 2016
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Pages: 308 | Reading age: 9-12
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, English, German
Du Meixi, the son of a Chinese silk merchant, encountered the French women Olsarny in Marseille, France; the two fell in love at first sight, got married and gave birth to four children. During the World War II, Du Meixi and his French wife returned to China and settled down in Shanghai. As time went by, Olsarny grew into an old woman from a girl and gradually got on with the life in China. She brought grace and warmth to this Chinese family, yet her exotic blood lineage became the source of the family disaster in the special years. Dragonfly Eyes (Hardcover) written by Cao Wenxuan takes the growth of Ah Mei, the granddaughter of Olsarny, as the main story line and outlines the caring and touching scenes of the family supporting each other in the special days from the perspective of the child.
For a long time, I like Cao Wenxuan’s words very much. He has written the truth, goodness and beauty in human nature so emotionally, and each of his words is full of strong emotions and is very delicate. The more I read, the more I enjoy the wording by the author, as if I have entered another world and cannot extricate myself from it. I hope Oshani and her Du Meixi can meet again in heaven!—By Douban ID 一缕阳光
7. 《狗牙雨》Gouyayu
Publication Date: March 2008
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
The book describes the fate of a person or several people from childhood to youth, to old age across several eras of vicissitudes of a country. The stories are connected by more than a dozen rainy scenes. The beauty of life in the rain, the nakedness of human nature in the rain, the natural subtlety in the rain, the magnificent heaven in the rain, the rain is not only the space-time background of the novel, but also the opportunity for the transformation of fate.
8. 《马戏团》Circus
Publication Date: August 2010
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
Circus contains 15 short stories in the long-form masterpieces, a combination of a variety of writing styles and writing themes, constitute a rich and pure beauty. This is an elegant and stiff symphony.
9. 《单行街》One-way street
Publication Date: August 2014
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
In this book, there are eleven classic stories, each with an unforgettable image. They bear the burden of their own growth, and in a step-by-step growth, they achieve their great progress.
10. 《我们的麦场主》Our wheat farmer
Publication Date: January 2010
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
This book contains a large number of comments about Cao Wenxuan’s works, some from the senior critics, some are from young readers. This is a rich and lively story. After reading this book, the reader can basically understand some of the style of Cao Wenxuan’s works.
11. 《红瓦黑瓦》Red Tiles and Black Tiles
Publication Date: March 2010
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
Although Cao has tried many themes, morality, the appreciation of beauty, and compassion have remained the three main areas of his writing. The Red Tiles is a collection of Cao’s latest short stories. In these stories, he writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges. It shows that children’s perspectives are not shallow, and that they experience the same cruelty, fear, and depth of life as adults. Cao’s own childhood was filled with miseries and memories of hunger, so he hopes to provide young readers with an understanding of how to treat miseries. His signature language is peaceful, melancholy, and beautiful.
The whole book is full of one theme: growth. The author puts the character in the most sensitive stage of life in the transition from adolescence to adult. Children at this stage go back and forth in the two worlds of adults and children. They had to take on some or all of the responsibilities of adults. The whole book reads particularly resonant, and even every character in each chapter is like the people around him, and there is a sense of participation in everything. —By Douban ID 卡在中间的1900
12. 《野风车》The Windmill
Publication Date: April 2010
Format: 5.38 x 1.04 x 7.75 inches | Reading age: 9-12
The book describes story between a village boy and a girl from Suzhou City. A happy boy who thought he deprived others of their happiness and fell into endless guilt; a few children just walked into a wooden house when an avalanche occurred … The works are fresh and pure, with elegant style. The story is exquisite and full of wisdom.
13. 萌萌鸟系列 Cute Bird Series
Cute Bird Series contains 18 volumes. Cute birds is a big, beautiful bird that drink alcohol and go crazy very often. One day, he fell into the water during the flight, and was rescued by an old fishing man in the Wuque Town. Robber PoMaoZi plans to rob the town! Cute Bird Wawa took charge of the defense of the town, and summoned a flock of birds to intercept the robber: they pecked off their sails, took their clothes, and ate their food.
14. “丁丁当当系列” Dingding and Dangdang Series
Dingding and Dangdang is a pair of affectionate brothers. The lost each other and two people look for each other, walked through the north and south of the river, their footprints have covered all the city, countryside, coal mines. Along the way, they met all kinds of people, some are kind, and some are sinister. Their journey contains a series of humorous and touching stories. This is a simple story about victory over the complex, fools over the wise, which is full of wisdom, enlightening.
15. 烟 Smoke
The fat man lives in the east of river, and the thin man lives in the west of the river. They are friends. But a small dispute, they do not let their children play with each other. Their children do not let their own dogs play with each other in turn. Until one morning, the two families were making breakfast; the fat man family uses the wet wood to make fire with black smoke, while the thin man family uses dry wood with white smoke. Black smoke white smoke floating into the sky, they first freely floated for a while, soon, the integrate together.
16. 第八号街灯 No.8 Streetlight
The eighth streetlight is the eyes of Qinghua Street, it stands high under the sky, like eyes silently watching the street: old men, dogs, old women, they come and go. It seems like a stage play, but it reflects the real life.
17. 风吹到乌镇时累了 The wind tired when passing Wuzhen
The mischievous wind feels full of power, it can blow down the bike, blow over the girls’ umbrellas, it feel interesting to pranks people. Finally, the mischievous wind broke through the disaster.
18. 大王书 Dawang Tome
The novel series Dawang Tome was carefully conceived by the author over eight years. The works is fantasy with the pursuit of pure beauty quality. The scene is magnificent.
19. 夏天 Summer
Publication Date: June 2018
Format: 11.9 x 0.4 x 6.8 in | Pages: 48 | Reading age: 3-7
English details available
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, English, German, French, Nepali, Korean, Swedish.
A picture book from one of China’s most celebrated children’s authors and 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award-winner Cao Wenxuan.
Summer is a poetic, inspirational picture book about the power of kindness from two of China’s most acclaimed creators―and children will discover a surprise as they turn the pages!
During a hot summer day in the grasslands, a group of animals race to claim the single spot of shade―under one tiny leaf that clings to a branch. The animals fight until they are inspired by an act of love to offer shade to one another.
Through lyrical text from Hans Christian Andersen Award winner Cao Wenxuan, the story comes alive with bright, delicate art from award-winning illustrator Yu Rong and provides a vivid introduction to animals. In the middle of the book, pages grow shorter and then longer to emphasize each selfless action and to remind children of the importance of sharing and being kind.
“An exquisitely calibrated fable, with a lyrically plainspoken voice, a vivid sense of atmosphere, and deftly choreographed moments of high drama and humor.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
20. 羽毛 Feather
Publication Date: January 2017
Format: 11.9 x 0.4 x 6.8 inches | Pages: 48 | Reading age: 3 – 7 years
English translation available
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, Swedish, Danish, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, Dutch, Khmer, French, English.
A philosophical picture book from one of China’s most celebrated children’s authors and 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award-winner Cao Wenxuan.
Cao Wenxuan tells the story of a single feather who is swept away on a journey of discovery and belonging. The beautiful, dynamic illustrations will delight readers of all ages.
The feather is an abstract silhouette on the right border of each scene. A feather is blown across the sky, meeting various birds along the way, and asking each one, “Do I belong to you?”
Encountering a variety of birds, from a kingfisher to a magpie, Feather is hopeful of meeting the bird she belongs to. Again and again, she is dismissed or ignored. Only when she sees that there is also beauty in being close to the earth does fate offer a reunion… Feather is sure to charm young children with a plot at once compelling, meditative, and quietly moving.
“[A] lovely and, yes, profound tale. . . Mello’s striking art makes each page a bright color, each avian portrait an evocative surprise. The book’s box like design looks special, too.”— The New York Times Book Review
21. 曹文轩纯美绘本” Cao Wenxuan’s Illustration Series
Format: 10.38 x 0.38 x 9 in | Pages: 44 | Reading age: 5-8
Cao Wenxuan’s Illustration Series consists of eight volumes, each of which tells an independent and touching story. Each book presents a strong sense of life and profound feelings, cultivating children’s life feeling, aesthetic perception, to nurture children’s spiritual world. This set of books won the 4th China Outstanding Publication Award, the 3rd China Publishing Government Award.
最后一只豹子 The last leopard
Publication Date: April 2010
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, Korean, German and English.
Follow the moving journey of a lone leopard in his search to find other leopards. Along his journey, he meets other creatures, constantly questioning whether he is the last leopard in the world. His wish is, in part, granted when he finally sees another leopard but not in the way one would expect. This bittersweet tale of loneliness and extinction, along with its beautiful illustrations of the grasslands, is bound to touch readers profoundly.
“In the ‘vast and boundless’ wilderness, a leopard roams in hopes he’s not alone. Rainy spreads set in black highlight the leopard’s relief in quenching his thirst and work in contrast to the leopard’s climactic water encounter, done in the dominant palette. A contemplative, sobering extinction story. (Picture book. 6-9)” — Kirkus Reviews
菊花娃娃The Doll Daisy
There is a beautiful woman in a beautiful town, making dolls every day. Every time she did it, she would embroider a chrysanthemum on the doll’s body. From sunrise to sunset, from spring and autumn to winter and summer, from blue silk to white head, women spent a lifetime to do such a pure cause.
痴鸡 Chi Ji
As soon as the black hen heard the chick’s cry, he immediately straightened his neck, and then strode over. As soon as he sees the chicken, he ignored people around and raced to the side. But the chicks saw it as if the child had seen a madman and fled in horror. I felt as if I had heard the black hen say, “why did you run?” The black hen covered them in its arms with big wings. The covered chicken screamed in the darkness, then drilled out and ran under the man’s legs.
一条大鱼向东游 A big fish swam towards east
Publication Date: April 2010
* licensed: Simplified Chinese, English, farsi, Traditional Chinese
In the middle of a great big river, there stands a single wooden post. It is a seemingly useless piece of wood, because the lone post cannot form a bridge by itself. Day after day, the wooden post longs to have friends and to be free. Instead, it is rooted to the riverbed and forced to watch each time its newfound friends leave him. Its days are brightened when a shepherd boy sits by the riverbank, keeping it company. When danger befalls its new friend, will the wooden post be able to help despite being stuck in one spot?
The perspective of a bridge pile in this picture book portrays a lonely soul eager to get attention. The last scene: The child stands on the shallows watching the rows of wood down the river, suddenly feeling that they are swimming eastward like big fishes. The pictures add color to the text a lot. What does this bridge pile represent? Everyone has their own answers. —By Douban ID五条啤梨
鸟船The Bird Boat
Over a rainy night, the boat drifted into the dense reeds. Endless loneliness hangs over it. A pair of big white birds makes nests in the cabin. Soon, the birds were born. One day, the big birds went out for food, and a fox came. The hungry fox covets the birds. The boat ran out of strength, even brandishing a long cable, chased away the fox and saved the bird. It was another night of heavy rain, and there was shallow water in the reeds. The boat wanted to go home. The birds spread huge wings, held up long cables, and flew towards the river… On the wide river, birds and boats make a magnificent picture.
马和马 Horse and Horse
Publication Date: March 2012
Black horses and white horses were born in a family at the same time; they eat grass together, play together, and grow up slowly together. The war broke out, and the white horse went to the front line and became a horse of great merit. The dark horse worked day and night, and he was happy for the white horse. The white horse was seriously injured and was carried back to the village. The master soon got bored. Only the dark horse accompanied it. Under the careful care of the dark horse, the white horse finally stood up.
飞翔的鸟窝Flying Bird Nest
Publication Date: May 2013
There is a particularly beautiful bird’s nest in the woods by the river. The owner of the bird’s nest is two beautiful birds, they are mother and daughter. On this day, the daughter flew out and did not come back. The next day, the mother went looking for her daughter and didn’t come back. The bird’s nest is empty. It began a long wait. Waiting becomes missing mind, and turns into action: empty bird’s nest flying up! It is going to look for its master. The vast sky was endless, and crows, swans and kites told it that the master was gone. Bird’s nest never give up, even if the storm, the powder broken bones. After a difficult journey, the bird’s nest was safely back in the tree — there were two beautiful birds in its body.
罗圈腿的小猎狗 The hunting dog
Publication Date: March 2014
Its owner, the hunter, has eleven hounds. But when the owner counts the dogs, he always counts to ten, and he doesn’t count anymore. The little hound thought the owner didn’t see him, so he hurriedly squeezed to the front, but the hunter’s eyes crossed him, or only counted to ten…This book is about a lap-legged small hound and its attitude towards life, it was ignored by the owner, often crowded out by peers, but it has not given up. The hound has been through non-stop training themselves, with the courage to defeat a male wolf.
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