Lost in Peach Blossom Paradise - (Little Yu and the Treelings) by Xiong Liang (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Alice in Wonderland meets Spirited Away Xiong Liang's propulsive, Chinese mythology-inspired adventure story for kids ages 9-12.

Embark on a forbidden journey through Peach Blossom Paradise--a world of mushroom elves and dragon slayers, with brilliantly crafted ink wash illustrations by a renowned Chinese artist.

City-girl Little Yu just spent a glorious summer in the countryside with her grandparents. On the last day of her vacation, wishing she could stay forever, Little Yu notices peach blossom petals marching along the surface of the river. They sink and bob to the surface again, a pink rivulet flowing into the distance. Little Yu follows the blossoms to an enormous, mossy stone tablet carved with the histories of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the words: "Prohibited to cross!" Laughing in the face of this restriction, she hikes up a leg, crosses the stone fence, and sinks her feet into the muck and lichen of an ancient forest.
The moment Little Yu enters the forest, the world shifts. The peach blossom petals flow backwards, stop, and then begin to spin. Like Lewis Carroll's Alice going down the rabbit hole or Hayao Miyazaki's Chihiro entering the spirit world, Little Yu enters a forbidden world and must learn to trust her instincts at every turn. She meets and befriends the realm's earthly guardians - puckish spirits of mountains, clouds, water, and wind. The first in the seven-book series, Little Yu and the Treelings, Lost in Peach Blossom Paradise is a new fantasy classic. The celebrated artist and writer Xiong Liang masterfully blends ancient Chinese mythology, traditions, and tales, in a story that shares many features with the best graphic novels. Xiong Liang's ink-wash drawings are vivid and meticulous, filling the page with cave dwellings, intricate creature-made tools, towering cypress forests, and a large, graceful hound dog.

Review Quotes

"Xiong's works have a uniquely natural beauty to them, a pure and harmonious beauty." --Sanchuan Ling

"Considering the scarcity of illustrated books in the Chinese children's literature market at the beginning of the 21st Century, it's fair to call his output 'prodigious' (indeed, it is unmatched inside China). Even more remarkable is the variety of styles he has boldly taken on from the very beginning, from works of ink wash painting and cut paper dripping with Asian tradition, to modern art bursting with color and individuality. His topics are similarly diverse, ranging from traditional Chinese folk art, nursery rhymes, legends, and Buddhist stories to children's works of pure fantasy. Some of his stories even draw on the everyday lives of today's children (especially those from rural areas). No matter his choice of medium, style, or subject, Xiong's drive for artistic perfection has gradually brought into being a flawless, one-of-a-kind fusion of traditional and modern art." --A Jia, Red Clay Reading

About the Author

Xiong Liang is an artist, illustrator, and author from Zhejiang Province, China. His writing includes novels, essays, plays, poems, and children's books as well as a collection of Chinese folk tales. Several of his works have been adapted for animation. Xiong's work has been featured at the Osaka International Children's Literature Museum, the British Museum, and more. In 2017, he won the Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award for Take a Walk with the Wind and in 2018 he was shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Chloe Garcia Roberts is a poet and translator from Spanish and Chinese. Her translations include poems by Li Shangyin as well as children's books including Feather by Cao Wenxuan and Roger Mello (Elsewhere Editions, 2017) which was named a USBBY Outstanding International Book for 2019.