LITTLE LEAP FORWARD
~ A Boy in Bejing ~

"A longing for China before the revolution told through the eyes of a child."



"On of the many pleasures of this moving story is its depiction of how a musical child experiences the world as a symphony of sounds." ~ New York Times

$15.99 - Free Shipping


Barefoot Books, the green publisher of children's books in Boston & UK, whose mission is to combine beautiful art with multicultural stories and poems, released it's first book in the young fiction category (ages 10 - 99). Little Leap Forward is an exceptional book about the longing for China before the revolution, a longing for the free China that once was, and a longing for a beautiful culture that was lost but not forgotten.

Little Leap Forward is a boy who grows up in the unforgiving age of the Chinese Revolution. Writers Guo Yue and Clare Farrow wonderfully describe the simple life of Little Leap Forward, his family and friends. The appropriately subtle and never-graphic glimpses we get of the brutality of this period in China's history provide the canvas for the story of Little Leap Forward and Little Cloud, his caged bird that will not sing. From Little Leap Forward's mother we see a time before the revolution when China was free. Through his caged bird, Little Leap Forward learns about freedom. Guo Yue takes pages from his own life in 1960's China to weave together the paths of each character. Through the innocent and poetic eyes of a child comes a book that tackles the adult themes of freedom and human rights, and offers young readers many intimate and powerful insights into one child’s life and dreams.

In Barefoot Books fashion the book comes alive with art. Helen Cann's original and child-like imagery leap out and capture the moment, but never squelch our imagination. Barefoot Books should be applauded for bringing an exceptional book to the realm of the young fiction. This book can be read on many different levels and is an open door to conversation with your child.
THE BOOK:
  • $15.99 - Free Shipping
  • Barefoot Books Young Fiction ages 10-100.
  • Gorgeous full color illustrations.
  • Looks at close friendship and conflict between political change and personal freedom.
  • Afterword offers historical notes on the Cultural Revolution and what it meant for the author and the Chinese people.
THE CREATORS:

GUO YUE is well known in the music world for the soaring beauty of his bamboo flute playing and compositions. He has performed and recorded worldwide, creating sounds which, in the words of one film director, ‘haunt the soul’. Yue and his wife, Clare Farrow, are also the authors of an adult memoir, Music, Food and Love.

CLARE FARROW is a writer and journalist specializing in modern contemporary art. She and Yue have two young children and live in Richmond, London.

HELEN CANN enjoys using patterns in her artwork and she has a large collection of reference material from around the world, taken from textiles, ceramics, furniture, jewelry— even body paint.

Little Leap Forward is available now!