Little Whale Comes Back Home

Original Title
小鲸鱼回家

Text by
向华 (Xiang Hua)

Illustrations by
马玉 (Ma Yu)

Language
Simplified Chinese

Pages
40

Age
4+

Publisher
Poplar｜Xin Shi Ji Publishing House
December 2014

Wukong’s classmate, the little whale Jingjing, is sick after class. While everyone else was making plans to take Jingjing home, Wukong thought of a solution himself. Will he be able to get Jingjing home safe and sound?

A challenging task, a heartwarming journey, a group of friends working together… LITTLE WHALE COMES BACK HOME talks about growth issues such as responsibility, commitment, loneliness, warmth, independence and much more.

For many years, Xiang Hua worked as an animation editor, his works including the animation movie Lotus Lantern and the animation series Music Up. In 2002, he received the Best Animation scriptwriter Award of China Television Golden Eagle Award. In 2008, he joined the faculty team of CAFA Picture Book Creation Studio, and since then he has been exploring the teaching and manuscript creation of picture books. In 2010, he estabilished Hanmiao Innovation Park, where he reads picture books and crafts with children, learning how to see the world through their eyes. He believes that children will help adults become real adults, and he is gradually maturing into a big “boy”, and he is now the most adorable teacher among children.

Ma Yu currently resides in Beijing after graduating from the Department of Chinese Painting at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts. She enjoys making picture books, product designs, and anything to do with painting. Wukong, Be A Good Boy! was one of her works that won the International Original Picture Book Award and was published in Japan by Hakuyosha. The Adventure on Mars, the third title in the “Wukong, Be A Good Boy!” series, won the 4th “Young China” Children’s Cultural Works Picture Book Group Finalist Award and the “Zhang Leping Picture Book Award” Finalist Award in 2016. The “Wukong, Be A Good Boy!” series also represented China at The Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) in 2017.

家的味道，就是大海的味道！山水迢迢，风雨来袭，悟空不知疲倦地护送小鲸鱼回家。这是鲸鲸的回家之旅，也是悟空的成长之旅！一个艰巨的任务，一段暖心的旅程，一群团结的小伙伴……带你认识成长中的那些关键词：淘气力气、责任、承担、孤单、温暖、团结、独立！

向华，曾做过多年动画编剧，作品有动画电影《宝莲灯》，动画系列片《我为歌狂》等。曾荣获过2002年中国电视金鹰奖最佳动画编剧奖。2008年加入中央美术学院绘本创作工作室的教师团队，开始探索绘本的教学及文稿创作。2010年成立汉苗创想园，和孩子们在一起读绘本、做手工，学习怎样用儿童的眼睛看世界。向华认为，孩子会帮助成年人真正地成长，他也一步一步成长为大“男孩”，成为深受孩子喜爱的“鸟老师”。

马玉，毕业于西安美术学院中国画系，现居北京。喜欢做图画书，也做产品设计，做跟画画有关的事。绘本《悟空，乖！》获国际原创图画书奖，并在日本白杨社出版。2016年，《悟空，乖！》系列第三部——《火星奇遇》荣获第四届“少年中国”少儿文化作品绘本组入围奖、“张乐平绘本奖”入围奖。《悟空，乖！》系列作品还代表中国参加2017年度布拉迪斯拉发国际插画双年展评选。此外，作品《五个小怪物》入选《中华读书报》：“2016不可错过的15种好书”。