Chinese Wonder Book

Step into a China of talking animals, enchanted objects, and ancient wisdom. This collection gathers beloved folk tales passed down through generations, where clever rabbits outwit tigers, cats and dogs wage their eternal war, and mysterious bells ring secrets across the mountains. Each story pulses with the rhythms of old China: the reverence for ancestors, the humor in human folly, the satisfaction when the humble triumph over the proud. Norman Hinsdale Pitman assembled these stories as windows into a rich civilization, but they function as something more powerful: timeless lessons about loyalty, trickery, kindness, and cunning, delivered not as sermons but as adventures. The full-color illustrations by Li Chu Tang render this world in gorgeous detail, capturing the imperial palaces, village marketplaces, and misty landscapes where these tales unfold. Whether you're meeting the Great Bell that warns of invaders or the talking fish who knows more than they let on, these stories have the rare quality of appealing equally to the child who wants wonder and the child who wants to understand how the world works.