Original Title
⻰⽣九⼦
Text by
XU Cui
Illustrations by
WU Jianhua, ZHANG Weicai
Language
Simplified Chinese
Pages
48
Size
28.5 × 28.5 cm
Age
4+
Published
January 2024, Everafter Books
Sold
Japanese
Russian
The book retells the ancient Chinese folk tale of ‘A dragon has nine sons, none alike.’ Born to the dragon king couple in heaven, each baby dragon possesses unique strengths but lacks spell control. Their missteps lead to a catastrophic flood, prompting them to descend to earth under their parents’ guidance. Through remedying their errors and aiding mortals, the dragon sons mature, learn spell control, and embrace their fairy responsibilities.
Returning to heaven, they safeguard world peace while their legend spreads among people, inspiring the design of dragon son images symbolizing peace and prosperity.
Wu Jianhua Folktale Series, comprising three volumes: “The Best Archer in the World,” “The Long Tongue Woman and the Giant Zhupan,” and “The Nine Sons of the Dragon.” These tales are skillfully adapted from ancient folk narratives, representing a masterpiece that offers fresh insights into age-old stories.
“The Chinese painter Wu Jianhua pays more attention to the local, so-called folk craftsmanship and the traditional style of folk painting than modern techniques. This is why their works can be collected by the Chihiro Art Museum. ” — Mitsumasa Anno
Awards
🏆The 33rd Kodansha Publishing Culture Award in Japan
🏆Special Recommendation of 2021 by Parenting Science and Hongniba
🏆Top 100 Best Book of 2021 Love Reading Recommended Books
🏆Selected for Chinese Classic Folk Tales Animation Creation Project Reading List in 2021
About the author/illustrator
Xu Cui: Illustrator and picture book creator. Graduated in 1996 from Zhu Weimin Studio at the Art Research Institute of Renmin University. Her illustrations have been primarily published in Taiwan, selected as recommended extracurricular reading materials for primary and secondary schools by the Government Information Office of Taiwan, and featured in Taiwan’s “Min Sheng Daily” as “Good Books for Everyone to Read.” She also won the Taiwan “United Daily News” Annual Good Book Award. In 2006, her fairy tale “The Frog and the Swan” won the “Bing Xin Children’s Literature Award – New Work Award for Fairy Tales.” In 2007, her picture book “Oh No! That’s Wrong!” (co-authored with Ji Zhaohua) was published by Kane/Miller Book Publishers in the U.S., followed by editions in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, and Korean. In 2015, as a picture book researcher for Inspired Culture, she wrote numerous articles introducing picture books and developed online courses on picture book reading. In November 2019, her second picture book “Two Geniuses” (co-authored with Ji Zhaohua) was published.
Wu Jianhua: A picture book artist. He began creating picture books in the 1980s, with several works published at home and abroad. Representative works include “Goddess Peak,” “Prince and Chair,” “The World’s Greatest Archer,” “The Long Tongue and the Giant Zhupan,” among which “Goddess Peak” received the Bratislava Illustration Exhibition (BIB) Honorable Mention Award, “Prince and Chair” was selected for the illustration exhibition at the Bologna International Children’s Book Fair in Italy, and “The Long Tongue and the Giant Zhupan” won the 33rd Kodansha Publishing Culture Award in Japan. Many of his original works are housed in the Chihiro Art Museum’s collection.
Zhang Weicai: A picture book artist and sculptor. In 1999, he completed the sculpture of the “Century Bell” in Beijing, and in 2005, he finished the sculpture for the “Peace Bell” at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Mr. Wu Jianhua on the creation of numerous picture books both domestically and internationally.
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