First edition of Little Plum by Ed Young, a gorgeously illustrated story about a child no bigger than a plum seed but with the courage of an entire village.
Written and illustrated by Ed Young. First edition, first impression, 1994. Philomel Books, a division of the Putnam & Grosset Group.
"In China the jujube fruit is often referred to as a date or a plum. Little Plum is called Hsiao Tso Urh in Mandarin. It is a popular tale but, like Long Po Po, it is not known to have been recorded in the classical language. There are, however, two versions from recent collections of Chinese folktales: Zhong Guo Tong Hwa and Ku Tai Ming Tsiang Ku Shr Hsuan Ji. This retelling is inspired by these versions."
In this charming, gorgeously illustrated Chinese folktale, a barren couple's wish to have a child, even if no larger than a plum seed, is granted, and they name him Little Plum. He never grows larger than a plum seed but Little Plum is their pride and joy. He's helpful to his mother and father and a friend to their animals, and helps his family prosper. A time comes when the crops fail and the villagers can't pay their taxes, and the lord, an evil man, sends soldiers to raid their village. The village's stores are empty, so they rob and beat the people and take their animals, including Little Plum's favorite mule. Little Plum rides a leaf on a breeze into the lord's compound and rescues the animals and defeats the lord once and for all.
Ed Young (1931- ) is a Chinese-born American illustrator. He won the Caldecott Medal for Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China and Caldecott Honors for The Emperor and the Kite and Seven Blind Mice. Among many other honors, he's also earned a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor award and was twice nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Young has sought to live up to his father's wish for him:
"A successful life and a happy life is one measured by how much you have accomplished for others and not one measured by how much you have done for yourself."
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Condition*: Fine/Near Fine. Dust jacket: Minor shelf wear; a hard-to-see dent along the spine near the top left corner.
* Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.
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