Cantonese / Hong Kong (People's Republic of China)
Tung wong Daai jyu saan dik maan syun soeng
(Sea cat sea fog)
Maoshan Connie (Yuen, Ming Shan Connie)
(text/illus.)
Hong Kong: Maoshan’s Seaside Studio, 2023. – [52] p.
ISBN 978-988-70324-0-3
Hong Kong | Ferry | Cat | Sailor | Fog | Bilingual book | Picture book
Reading age: 4+
White Ravens issue: 2024
The boat cat Choi Jai lives on a slow boat offering ferry service to Lantau Island. He is grateful to his sailor for saving him after he fell into the sea while chasing rats. As a special birthday present, Choi Jai plans to create the perfect sea fog that will turn the entire harbour into a giant cream cake. He knows the secret recipe: collect the worries and complaints of the ferry’s passengers and whip them up in a foam machine. And indeed, the world seems to float in a fluffy cake, while a symphony of fog horns celebrates the sailor’s birthday. After studying architecture and earning a master’s degree in children’s literature, Maoshan Connie has worked as a painter, picture book author and community map artist. Her innocent pencil, crayon and pastel drawings capture daily life on Hong Kong’s ferries and offer stunning views of the city and its harborscape: a declaration of love for her hometown and a counterweight to the usual, expediently didactic children’s books of Hong Kong’s fast-paced society. [LO]