SYNOPSIS

Young Minli loves her parents and wants to see them happy and living in plenty. Inspired by her father’s legends about the Old Man of the Moon who controls destinies, she slips away from home to find the Old Man. 

On her long perilous journey, Minli makes friends, witnesses new legends coming to life, receives gifts, and learns important life lessons.

And despite her parents’ desperate worries, Minli comes home to share the true secret to happiness and plenty with her family and with their whole village.

PERFECT AGE 9 – 14

THEMES

• Kindness and care for family and fellow beings
• Courage and determination in the face of threats and challenges
• Wisdom and beauty offered by legends and tales
• Finding beauty in nature and in unexpected places

We love

• Minli’s ingenuity, bravery and determination, as well as her tender ability to make friends.
• Minli’s mom – dismissive of her husband’s penchant for storytelling and the stories’ meanings – is fully transformed by the end of the book and in that way, able to find her own happiness
• It is unclear which of the legends (printed in different font from the main story) are authentic vs. created by the author – but they blend together so well to create a sense of ancient folklore
• Reality and magic mix together constantly, to keep the imagination active, so much so that at the end, reader and parent may themselves wonder, “Maybe this really happened?”

WATCH OUT FOR (Language, Big / Sensitive Topics, Outdated Concepts):

• As with amost any folklore tale, instances of cruelty will be heard – a bad ruler threatens to punish a village harshly; a scary tiger demands human sacrifices before he is tricked by two clever children and tumbles to his death in a well. But nothing too graphic or worrisome.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

• Which one was your favorite tale? Why?
• Why do you think Minli released the goldfish?
• How did Minli trick the monkeys and what was the trait she counted on to trick them?
• How did you feel when reading about Dragon’s sickness?
• What is the secret to happiness for you? Why?