"There was a great river flowing all year round.
There were no bridges, but a few boats floated upon it.
The villagers had planned to build a bridge over the river, but for some strange reason,
only one wooden post was ever put up.
That wooden post stood amid the river, lonely."
This book is the story of the wooden post. Told by the wooden post. It is not an entirely happy story. It is a tale about loneliness, friendship, and freedom. The post observes the world. It notices that stars, birds and trees all have companions. The post is useful but also feels used. A bird sharpens its beak, a fisherman ties up his boat and then the next day he leaves, and a young shepherd boy uses the post for his target practice. Eventually the post is dislodged in a wild storm. In a moment of heroism the post rescues the shepherd boy and then the post is carried away, like a fish, now set free.
Publisher blurb Starfish Bay: A quirky yet thoughtful story about a lonely wooden pole and its unspoken friendship with a quiet shepherd boy, which shows readers that everyone has something they are good at and that no one is truly useless.In the middle of a great big river, there stands a single wooden post. It is a seemingly useless piece of wood, because the lone post cannot form a bridge by itself. Day after day, the wooden post longs to have friends and to be free. Instead, it is rooted to the riverbed and forced to watch each time its newfound friends leave him. Its days are brightened when a shepherd boy sits by the riverbank, keeping it company. When danger befalls its new friend, will the wooden post be able to help despite being stuck in one spot?
This is a very puzzling book with beautiful illustrations. Kirkus sum this up when they say: A whimsically morose story that is elevated by its illustrations. Another puzzle with this book is the author name which I list as Cao Wenxuan but Starfish Bay (Publisher) reverse as Wenxuan Cao. This book could be used in a High School class in a philosophy class or with older Primary students who are sure to have different interpretations of the message Cao Wenxuan wants to give his readers.
Here is the Chinese cover:
In 2016 Cao Wenxuan won the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen award. I have previously discussed these books:
Here is another book translated into English with illustrations by Yanling Gong.
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