A beautifully written, timeless tale by a best-selling Chinese author and 2016 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award tells the story of Sunflower, an only child, who is taken in by a poor family in her rural village after the death of her father, where she bonds with the family's only child, Bronze, who has not spoken since being traumatized by a terrible fire. - (Baker & Taylor)
Taken in by a poor family in a rural village after the death of her father, Sunflower bonds with the family's only child, Bronze, who has not spoken since being traumatized by a terrible fire. - (Baker & Taylor)
A beautifully written, timeless tale by Cao Wenxuan, best-selling Chinese author and 2016 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.
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. - (Random House, Inc.)
A beautifully written, timeless tale by Cao Wenxuan, best-selling Chinese author and 2016 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.
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. - (Random House, Inc.)
Cao Wenxuan is one of China’s most esteemed children’s book writers and has won several of China’s important awards for children’s literature. Bronze and Sunflower is his first full-length book to be translated into and published in English. A professor of Chinese literature at Peking University, Cao Wenxuan has seen many of his books become bestsellers in China, and his work has been translated into French, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.
Helen Wang studied Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and is now a curator at the British Museum. She has been a translator for more than twenty years. She lives in London. - (Random House, Inc.)
Cao Wenxuan is one of China's most esteemed children's book writers and has won several of China's important awards for children's literature. Bronze and Sunflower is his first full-length book to be translated into and published in English. A professor of Chinese literature at Peking University, Cao Wenxuan has seen many of his books become bestsellers in China, and his work has been translated into French, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.
Helen Wang studied Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and is now a curator at the British Museum. She has been a translator for more than twenty years. She lives in London. - (Random House, Inc.)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* When Bronze and Sunflower meet on the banks of the rushing river, they know they are kindred spirits. Sunflower is small and quick, while mute Bronze is patient and calm. When Sunflower's artist father suddenly dies in a tragic river accident, she is taken in by Bronze's poor but hardworking family in the tiny rural village of Damaidi, China. Over several years, readers follow the family as they celebrate the good things in life—the circus, Sunflower starting school, a handmade gift—and the bad—famine, flood, and the loss of their beloved grandmother, Nainai. Translated from Mandarin, the confident, well-paced, episodic storytelling alternates laughter and tears. The vivid imagery employs all the senses, evoking emotions and creating beautiful moments of reflection about the natural world. Written by a cultural insider, this story provides a window into life as a child in rural China near the end of the Cultural Revolution. Virtuous and kind, Bronze and Sunflower's family reflects important cultural values including filial piety, respect for elders, the value of hard work and education, and the importance of saving face. This not-to-be-missed story reminds us to be thankful for family and love, no matter our station in life. Helpful back matter provides additional insight into this specific time in China's history. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Hans Christian Andersen Award–winner Wenxuan's moving story of a friendship between two lonely Chinese children, orphaned Sunflower and mute Bronze, bears all the elements of a classic: an inviting and solidly constructed setting, a close-knit family, and a kindhearted community (there's even a pet buffalo). Traversing five years, the book is beautifully translated into lyrical prose that brings to life the riverside village of Damadai ("The glints of sunlight on the water rippled into a golden glow that rose and fell with the river") and its inhabitants, especially Bronze's impoverished family, who adopt Sunflower—a stranger from the city—after her father's drowning. The two children grow inseparable, becoming each other's protectors as the family and community persevere through the small and large dramas of life in rural China. While the story seems timeless, a closing note explains that it takes place during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and describes the cadre schools that brought people like Sunflower and her father from the city to the remote countryside. Ages 9–12. (Mar.)
Copyright 2016 Publisher Weekly.
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 4–6—The landscape, captured in lyrical, evocative prose, takes the leading role in this episodic novel set during China's Cultural Revolution. From the start, readers are drawn into the tiny village of Damaidi, a world circumscribed by a seemingly endless reed marsh, a "vast ocean, rippling with green waves." A broad river serves as the symbolic and literal divide between the village and the Cadre School, a settlement of city dwellers sent to the countryside to tame the wilderness. Against this backdrop, we meet lonely Sunflower, age seven, who has accompanied her father to the Cadre School, and Bronze, the 11-year-old son of the poorest village family, who is unable to speak. When Sunflower's father drowns in an unusual and unfortunate sequence of events, the girl is adopted by Bronze's family, and the pair become fast friends, accompanied in their adventures by the family's water buffalo, a delightful sidekick, "more placid and better natured than most humans." Long as this work is on eloquence and charm, its core strength is its unflinching portrayal of the harsh realities of life in rural China. The family suffer through several catastrophes, including near starvation following a plague of locusts, but perhaps more telling are the endless small embarrassments of poverty. In one sequence, Sunflower pretends to visit friends when in reality she needs a place to do homework because her family can't afford oil for their lanterns.
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal.