HongFei cultures

New Title Spring 2008

Granny Xiao's Feast  Méme Xiao goûte à la vie

[ Edition HongFei Cultures | Collection Belle Ile Formosa  | ISBN 978-2-35558-004-8  ]

For the first time, French readers discover this sensitive story of Xu Dishan, a great traveller and writer of China in the 1920s.  

text XU Dishan | illustration Delphine BODET

very short story translated from Chinese to French (approx. 800 words)

illustrated for adults and children above six of age

album 25x25 cm, 32 pages | full colours, hardback

key words youth, experience, joy  

After being away for a very, very long time, Wei-Ming the Sailor finds again Granny Xiao, his favorite playmate as a little boy. They recall all those delightful moments of their youth, as well as the pains of love in the flourishing garden. But, before growing into young people in love, they had once been whimsical kids at the dawn of their life.

And, for every child, life is no less than a promising feast of exciting adventures !

Storyline

After being away for forty-five years, Wei-Ming the Sailor comes back to his home town and finds again Granny Xiao, his favorite playmate as a little boy. Memories of their youth are so much alive that they have the feeling of being parted only yesterday. The two young people in love were in a flourishing garden when they bid farewell. Now the garden is turned into the playground of the grand-children of Granny Xiao.

When they were little children, both loved the oyster crêpes cooked by Xiao's mother. Little Xiao claimed Wei-Ming's share arguing that it was richer than the one she had chosen. Many years later, they learned from life that once you have chosen and eaten your share, you can never claim another one at its place. The essential thing is that the crêpe be delicious and that you enjoy it.

What the story teaches

Learn to go on bravely in life, fully-realised, with no regret.

Author

XU Dishan (1893 Taiwan - 1941 Hong-Kong), philosopher and novelist, is known for his short stories. Set  in China's eventful years of 1920s, his well depicted figures inspire reader's sympathy over the last half century.

Illustrator

Delphine BODET has been trained in graphic arts in Aix-en-Provence where she runs workshops in parallel to her creative jobs. First published in Histoires des quatre saisons (Flies France 2004), she handles traces and colours in a svelte manner, instilling a poetic feel in her compositions as a natural dwelling for dreams and fantasies.

To order

ISBN 978-2-35558-004-8

Issued by CEDIF Diffusion / DAUDIN Distribution

Available for individual readers in French bookshops starting April 2008

Price 13,20 euros TTC