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Home > Translation > The World Bookshelf > Books > Bronze and Sunflower

Bronze and Sunflower

A beautifully written, timeless tale by bestselling Chinese author Cao Wenxuan. When Sunflower, a young city girl, moves to the countryside, she grows to love the reed marsh lands – the endlessly flowing river, the friendly buffalo with their strong backs and shiny round heads, the sky that stretches on and on in its vastness. However, the days are long, and the little girl is lonely. Then she meets Bronze, who, unable to speak, is ostracized by the other village boys. Soon the pair are inseparable, and when Bronze’s family agree to take Sunflower in, it seems that fate has brought him the sister he has always longed for. But life in Damaidi is hard, and Bronze’s family can barely afford to feed themselves. Will the city girl be able to stay in this place where she has finally found happiness?

Author

Cao Wenxuan

Cao Wenxuan

Books

Bronze and Sunflower

Cao Wenxuan is one of China’s most important children’s writers and is widely considered the country’s most subtle and philosophical, often referred to as China’s very own Hans Christian Andersen. Many of his books have been bestsellers, including Thatched Cottage and Red Gourd, and he has been translated into French, Russian, Japanese, Korean and English. Cao has won several of China’s most prestigious awards for children’s literature, including the Song Qingling and Bing Xin prizes.

Translator

Helen Wang

Helen Wang

Books

Bronze and Sunflower

Helen has a BA Hons in Chinese from SOAS, University of London. She has written and edited multiple books and articles, and is in 2015 the Curator of East Asian Money at the British Museum. Her translations for children include Jackal and Wolf by Shen Shixi (Egmont, 2012), Pai Hua Zi and the Clever Girl by Zhang Xinxin (a graphic novel for children set in 1960s Beijing published as an e-book in 2012), short fantasy story Dragonworld by Zhang Xinxin (The Guardian, 2012), Galloping Horses by Xu Zechen (The Guardian, 2012).

Published by

Walker Books, 2015
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A beautifully written, timeless tale by bestselling Chinese author Cao Wenxuan. When Sunflower, a young city girl, moves to the countryside, she grows to love the reed marsh lands – the endlessly flowing river, the friendly buffalo with their strong backs and shiny round heads, the sky that stretches on and on in its vastness. However, the days are long, and the little girl is lonely. Then she meets Bronze, who, unable to speak, is ostracized by the other village boys. Soon the pair are inseparable, and when Bronze’s family agree to take Sunflower in, it seems that fate has brought him the sister he has always longed for. But life in Damaidi is hard, and Bronze’s family can barely afford to feed themselves. Will the city girl be able to stay in this place where she has finally found happiness?

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