Original Title
不能没有
Text & illustrations by
Cai Gao
Language
Simplified Chinese
Pages
44
Size
25.5 × 25.5 cm
Age
4+
Published
Daylight Publishing
December 2024
The world cannot be without the sun — without it, darkness would envelop everything. It cannot be without clouds — for where would the stars tuck their little quilts, or the moon rest her head? It cannot be without wind — how else would the baby flowers go out to play?…And the world cannot be without me, without you, or without him.
This is the newest picture book by national treasure artist Cai Gao. Blending childlike wonder, poetic beauty, and philosophical insight, it reads like a pure yet powerful visual poem.
An integration of nature, art and life education.
A pursuit of poetry and philosophy in everyday life.
🥇The White Ravens 2025
Humans cannot do without the sun, the clouds, the wind, the rain. Nor without a book, a smile, a dream, a hug, a mirror. This picture book is about everything humans need and should treasure. Its prose unfolds like an exquisite poem, revealing a world both simple and multi-layered. The text, rich in realistic and metaphorical implications, harmonizes perfectly with the illustrations’ modern creative interpretation of traditional Chinese paintings. Readers can also use the blank space at the end to draw what they consider indispensable in their own lives. Cai Gao is best known for her creative adaptations of Chinese folklore in her picture books, including »Bao er«, »Tao hua yuan de gu shi« (The story of Peach Blossom Spring), and »Bai niao yu yi« (A feather robe from hundreds of birds). She is the first Chinese illustrator to win the BIB Golden Apple and has been shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. In 2022, she won the Special Contribution Prize of the Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award. (Age: 3+) [FW, ZX]
About the author/illustrator
Cai Gao is a celebrated Chinese painter and picture book creator and a member of China Artists Association. She taught in a rural primary school in the 1970s, worked in the Hunan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House in the early 1980s and devoted herself to picture book creation after retirement in 2001. She is the first Chinese winner of the Golden Apple Award at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB), setting a milestone in the development of Chinese picture books. Her work Bao’er (The Fox Spirit in the Abandoned Garden) won the 14th BIB Golden Apple Award; Hua Mulan and Blazing City 1938 won the Annual Picture Book Award of the Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award. In 2024, she was shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
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