The White Ravens Database

Presented by   Internationale Jugendbibliothek / International Youth Library

Chinese / People's Republic of China

Tong mou

(Through the eyes of a child)

Huang, Beijia (text)
Nanjing: Jiangsu feng huang shao nian er tong chu ban she (Jiangsu Phoenix Juvenile and Children’s Publishing Ltd.), 2017. – 279 p.
ISBN 978-7-5584-0046-9

China  | History 1970s  | Childhood  | Poverty  | Coming of age  | Innocence  | Sophistication  | Realism

Reading age: 12+

White Ravens issue: 2017

OPAC

This novel tells of the children growing up in a small town in northern Jiangsu province in the 1970s. Through the eyes of a child, their world is presented as a mixture of romantic innocence and authentic sophistication. One reads about the boy “White Hair”, suffering from albinism and eager to be accepted by his peers, who learns to take advantage of his disease. A bully named Ma Xiaowu devotes himself to aiding Ximei support her family. The daughter in a single-parent home feels burdened caring for her mentally impaired sister, yet protects her from abuse. Honoured with the 4th Chinese Government Award for Publishing and selected into the “Best Chinese Books of 2016” by the Association of China Book Review and CCTV, the book compels readers to rethink the experience of being a child. Recognized writer Huang Beijia is best known for her children’s books. One of her award winning novels, “I Want to Be a Good Child” (1996) has seen its 100th reprinting in 2017.