Footprint

Written by Xue Tao and illustrated by Yu Rong （British）

Anhui Children’s Publishing House

January 2021

46.00 （CNY）

Brief introduction：

This book tells of a story that takes place in a village in Northeastern China. It is an original illustrated book with a realistic theme reflecting upon the current life of the left-behind children. In a cold winter when the road was blocked due to heavy snow， the parents of the protagonist Xiaoxi returned to the city， leaving two lines of footprints on the snow of the northern slope. Xiaoxi put his cotton shoes in those footprints and “walked” in them as if he was walking with his parents every day. When the ice and snow melted， he planted indicum seeds in those footprints and marked them with stones. After an early spring rain fell， Xiaoxi recited ancient poems for each seed， silently looking forward to the return of his parents. But one day， a fire broke out on the northern slope， destroying the footprints. Woeful Xiaoxi deliberately forgot the footprints and indicum and waited silently. Spring was now in full blossom， bringing to Xiaoxi the new “footprints”， new green from the past scars， buds from the top of the indicum， and familiar figures on an arriving minibus.

Xue Tao

Xue Tao is a birdwatcher. He has devoted himself to writing for children. Xue has published over 50 works at home and abroad and won more than 20 prizes and awards. He wishes that his stories could reach people around the world.

Yu Rong

Yu Rong is a British Chinese illustrator. She earned her master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Arts， majoring in visual communication and design. Yu is a disciple of Sir Quentin Blake， a master of English children’s literature. Her picture books have won various awards at home and abroad， and she has published her works in many countries such as the United Kingdom， the United States， Germany， Italy， Spain， New Zealand， Japan， and so on.