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‘We need the literature of other countries to expand our
horizons and stimulate our ideas. Without it, we are not only
diminished, we are starved’
(The Times, Magnus Linklater 29/06/05)

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Title: Flying High

Author: Cao Wenxuan

Translator: Jake Hope and Simone-Davina Monnelly

Illustrator: Yu Rong

Publisher: Uclanpublishing

Date Published: 2024

Format: Paperback

Genre:

Book Category: Picture Book

Age Range: Under_5

Original Title: First published in Chinese by Friendship Publishing Company, China, 2024

Country of Origin: China

Flying High

by Cao Wenxuan
Age Range: Under_5

In a small town near the river where strong winds blow everyone loves to fly kites. A young child, the narrator of the story, flies a blue whale kite high in the sky and Wawa, his best friend flies beside it. The child longs to play with the other children but they say “You’re too small to play with us”! “Every day I check my height and hope that soon I’ll be tall enough to play with them.” Disaster strikes when the child flies his kite with the other children and it becomes entangled with their kites resulting in an angry outburst as his kite is stamped on.

The child is crushed and throws his broken kite into the river. “As I watched it float away, I saw my reflection. It looked small and sad. I threw a rock deep into the river so that my reflection broke apart and I didn’t have to see myself anymore.”

Wawa takes her friend on an extraordinary and inspiring journey opening up the wonders of the natural world and the child slowly realises that it’s okay to be different.

Known for his lyrical prose, as evidenced in Bronze and Sunflower, Chinese author Cao Wenxuan has written a simple yet powerful picture book that encompasses a child’s loneliness and longing to fit in. The emotive text, excellently translated by Jake Hope and Simone-Davina Monnelly, captures the pathos and eventual understanding of the child as they become comfortable within themselves.

The accompanying artwork by Chinese artist Yu Rong is vibrant and distinctive in its use of mixed media including collage, watercolour and pencil-drawn faces, which are particularly striking as they capture a range of different emotions of the protagonist and the other children. The double-page spreads of brightly coloured kites are also beautifully executed.

Wenxuan is a Professor of Chinese literature at Peking University and won the Hans Christian Andersen Author Award in 2016.

Other titles by Wenxuan reviewed on the Outside In World website are Bronze and Sunflower (2015), Feather (2017) and Dragonfly Eyes (2021).