Chinese / People's Republic of China
Tu gou lao hei chuang huo le
(That black dog stirs up trouble)
Ye, Guangqin
(text)
Beijing: Beijing shao nian er tong chu ban she (Beijing Juvenile and Children’s Publ. House), 2020. – 252 p.
(Series: Hao zi Ya ya de gu shi)
ISBN 978-7-5301-6025-1
Dog | Girl | Growing up | History 1950s
Reading age: 7+
White Ravens issue: 2021
After “Hao zi da ye qi wan le” (Master Rat gets up late) and “Hua mao san ya shang fang le” (The cat Sanya climbed onto the roof), also the third children’s book of well-known writer Ye Guangqin is characterized by the literary language and an authentic perspective on childhood. Little Yaya continues her mischief and explorations in this new semi-autobiographical story, in which we see and feel ordinary day-to-day life in mid-twentieth century Beijing from her perspective. There is that black dog, Laohei, in Yaya’s house, who keeps on stirring up trouble through his innocent vivaciousness, not unlike the little girl herself. When Yaya starts primary school, she finds herself stepping into a wider world. But Laohei has to be sent back to its rural home when it grows bigger and becomes unfit for urban life, and so, Yaya has to say goodbye to a phase of her childhood, too. Before writing books for children, Ye was renowned for her novels and essays that captured the flavour of Beijing. [FW, ZX]