Chinese / Taiwan
Huan ying guang lin tian tang xiao zhen
(Welcome to the h(e)aven town)
Ander
(Ye, Ande)
(text/illus.)
Xin zhu shi: He ying wen hua (Heryin Books), 2017. – 205 p.
(Series: Wo men de gu shi xi lie)
ISBN 978-986952265-6
Environmental destruction | Wolf | Humans | Habitat loss | Nuclear accident | Wildlife refuge
Reading age: 10+
White Ravens issue: 2018
This hybrid between an opulently illustrated children’s book and a graphic novel, set in “Heaven town”, is about a grandmother, a wolf, and a hunter, yet it is not a fairy tale. The wolf, who has been shot by a hunter, is saved and nursed back to health by the grandmother, who herself has survived several suicide attempts. However, the wolf will not be able to survive in his natural habitat, because the forest is increasingly being destroyed by lumbering, pipe line construction, and hunting. His pack has been killed or captured for the local zoo already. Only an accident in a nearby nuclear power plant and the subsequent evacuation of the human population opens up the opportunity for a new life in a protected space for the wildlife, the zoo animals, and the grandmother, who refuses to leave. “Heaven town” has become “Haven town”. Ye Ande, now a successful picture book author after fifteen years in the animation industry, has been working on this novel with its controversial message for many years.