Story
There was this house of lots of mice living happily. One day, a big gray cat, Lord Meow, shows up and starts to take out mice one by one. The remining three, the Strong, the Fast, and the Tiny, decide to team up with the most powerful ally. First, they go to the Sun. The Sun says the Wind is more powerful, because the Wind can blow clouds over to cover the Sun. They go to the Wind, and the Wind says the Wall is more powerful, because the Wall can block the Wind. They go to the Wall, and the Wall says mice are more powerful, because mice can drill holes on the Wall. Feeling inspired, three mice look into themselves. One contributes its impressive body strength, one runs(or rolls around) super fast, and the tiny one makes super loud sounds. They make a plan and successfully defeat Lord Meow.
Specialty about this book
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I (Ü) translated the story from Chinese to English, made my adaptation, wrote the rhyme, and illustrated for the book
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There are a few Chinese and Japanese characters in the book with explanations.
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There is little use of punctuation. (Chinese writings used to have NO punctuation) I only use punctuation when I find them necessary for the storytelling experience.
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The drawings were done by a calligraphy set I brought from Taiwan.
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No AI generated content. I happily accept and appreciate my human flaws.
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The illustration includes familiar items from my childhood memory of Taiwan and the vibrant colors inspired by the Autumn around Southern Tier New York
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I was just awarded with NYSCA FY2026 to create an opera based on this book
How this project started
In 2024, I was asked to compose an opera for children and apply for a grant to create this opera. I chose this story I learned as a child in Taiwan. When I was told that a children's opera should come with a storybook, I couldn't find any in English. I learned about the NYS Statewide Community Regrant (SCR) for individual artists, and I applied for this grant to create this book. My proposal was awarded and I created this book.
The original version of the story
The story origin wasn't clear. Several Asian countries shared a similar storyline. The original story I learned in Taiwan was about a mouse couple choosing the most powerful son-in-law for their daughter. After the journey, they married their daughter to another mouse. I didn't like that girls had to marry into power instead of being the power. I also wasn't a fan of marrying someone chosen by others. So, when I got this opportunity to adapt, the marriage was completely out of the story. I felt the story should have ended right after the mice realized they were powerful. My children couldn't stand the end as such, and so I had to add the part of the mice using their abilities to defeat the cat.
First draft (Thank goodness I didn't publish these)
Practices
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- A self-empowering rhyme inspired by an Asian classic -
What's NOT into the book
The complicated history about the powers that have ruled Taiwan
When the earth was covered in ice, humans walked a long way to Taiwan When the ice melt, the humans that couldn't walk elsewhere became the ancestors of the aboriginal people in Taiwan Lots of aboriginal people in Taiwan were voyagers at sea (Moana's bonus feature mentioned that they believed Moana's ancestors might have come from Taiwan) Many men from the east coast of China sailed to Taiwan for a better future(to trade or to settle down). Many men got married to aboriginal women. Several aboriginal tribes were established as matriarchal society Portuguese had visited Taiwan and called it "Ihla Formosa" (debatable) Spanish settled in Taiwan Dutch people got rid of Spanish rulers and became the new rulers Cheng, the last royal blood from Ming Dynasty, evacuated to Taiwan after losing the land to Ching (or Qing) Dynasty. Cheng went through costly battles to get rid of Dutch rulers. Ching (Qing) Dynasty sent troops over to eliminate Cheng's power. Ching Dynasty had no intention to rule Taiwan. After eliminating Cheng, Ching didn't try to develop Taiwan much. When Ching Dynasty lost battles to Japan, Japan took over Taiwan and Penghu (several islands that currently belong to Taiwan). My grandparents received Japanese education because of Japanese Colonization of Taiwan from 1895-1945. One neighbor of my grandpa (mom's dad) was sent to the battlefield in China to fight KMT on Japan's behalf (KMT is the next ruling power of Taiwan) Following Japan's surrender to end WWII, Chiang-Kai-Shek, the authoritarian leader, brought Kuo-Ming-Tang (KMT, the Nationalist Party) to take over Taiwan from Japan. Chiang placed Martial Law in Taiwan in 1949. Mandarin became the official language. When my parents were at school, the students who spoke their dialects would be punished by wearing a sign saying "Please speak the National Language (Mandarin)". They had to wear the signs until they found the next person who made the same mistakes. When I was 5, the Martial Law was lifted. I became the last generation using the old textbooks that still taught us to "rescue our fellow Chinese from China" There are currently 16 aboriginal tribes recognized by Taiwanese government Immigrants are about 4% of Taiwan's population (2024)
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In order to strengthen a ruling power, some tried to erase local identities. When it was dangerous to speak up in public, many little guys, ordinary people, encoded messages in arts and literature. No matter which language my family members were forced to speak in public, the one thing that had never changed was the love for music. I followed the same passion, came to the US for grad school, performed in over 1500 shows around the world, and settled down in Upstate New York. During my musical journey, I met brilliant minds that had preserved their Taiwanese identities and their sides of stories in their creative works.
Feeling inspired, my mice in the book became my "little guys" bravely using their talents to defend themselves. I hope my readers may ask interesting questions like "why does a Taiwanese write a rhyme in English", "why does the rhyme have Chinese words", "why would the uses of colors dramatically change", "why does the rhyme have Japanese words", "why is there an Asian looking building", "why are the mountains so colorful", "why are there sunflowers"...
When my readers think of all these questions, the purpose of this book is served.
How cultures have survived new rulers
I hope my children keep an open mind for different voices
I host a Mandarin Story/Play-time in the Vestal Public Library for over 2 years. It's a commitment I've made to help establish a Mandarin speaking environment mainly for my children. While I focus on English, Mandarin, and Minnan for my kids, I also have taught them random words in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and more. Being able to appreciate another language means being able to perceive another perspective.
*This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program (SCR), a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.
This is an old building very close to the shop of my uncle. It inspired the building on the back cover.