Chinese / People's Republic of China
Xiao shan yang zou guo tian ye
(Little Goat walks over the field)
Xue, Tao
(text)
Wang, Xiaoxiao
(illus.)
Hefei: Anhui shao nian er tong chu ban she (Anhui Juvenile and Children’s Publ. House), 2021. – 116 p.
ISBN 978-7-5707-1225-0
Boy | Goat | Nature | Friendship
Reading age: 6+
White Ravens issue: 2022
A boy and a little goat meet and never separate again. They build a house and live together in what seems to be a very small world. However, it grows bigger as one follows the boy’s story, told in first-person narration: How many goats are there on earth? They are all here in my house when I have my little goat with me. How many names does a little goat have? As many as the numerous places it has been in my imagination. Time slows down as readers begin to see this world in a new way: the tender green of grass in early spring, so fresh for one to discover; a rainbow in the sunset, so beautiful it makes one cry. Xue Tao wrote this book in memory of the goat he had in his childhood. He is renowned for his children’s novels and fairy tales, including »Jiu yue de bing he« (The ice river of September), »Xiao cheng chi« (The small castle), »Da fu wen« (The wealthy men), and »Shan hai jing xin chuan shuo« (The new classic of mountains and seas). Among others, he won the National Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature. [FW, ZX]