Brief introduction：

These are a series of picture books on environmental and ecological protection. The four books – The White Crane Comes Back， The Man Who Created the Oasis， Dear Ili Pika， and The Jerboa Lost His Way – tell stories about environmental protection at Dongting Lake， Hunan， Ili， Xinjiang， the deserts of Inner Mongolia， and Karamay， Xinjiang respectively. The stories， written from the perspectives of planting trees， protecting the environment and animals， and improving natural habitat， present the close ties between technology and nature， urban and rural areas， man and animals. The readers will be enlightened to read up on the necessity and importance of environmental protection.

Xiao Aozi

Associate professor， school of Design， Hunan University.

Deng Xiangzi

A member of China Writers Association， Executive Chief Editor of Creek， a magazine from Hunan Children’s Publishing House. He obtained the 9th National Excellent Children’s Literature Award， the 5th Chinese Excellent Publication Award， the 1st Chinese Government Publishing Award， and the 3rd National Excellent Children’s Book Award.

Zhou Jing

As chief editor of Pupils’ Guide， she obtained the National Excellent Children’s Literature Award， Zhang Tianyi Children’s Literature Award， Bing Xin New Children’s Literary Works Award， and Hunan Youth Literary Award.

Liu Huimin

A writer and researcher on the epic Jangar， a contract writer with Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Writers Association， and vice-president and secretary general of the Children’s Literature Research Society from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Writers Association.

There was a famous old hunter beside Dongting Lake.

On a cold winter day， he went hunting as usual. Suddenly， he saw a big bird as white as snow where the river branched off. He steadily raised his gun and took aim. At this moment， the bird noticed him， too. It struggled to spread its wings， but stumbled and fell.

The old man put down his gun. “Oh， the bird is injured！”

The gunshot wound was found in the left leg of the big bird. Some of its pure white feathers had been dyed red by blood. It seemed that the bird had flown for a while after being shot. Eventually， it couldn’t continue on flying， and made its descent to the wetland by the lake.

The old man took this big bird he had never seen before back home.

Flying from the room to greet the old man was his granddaughter Doudou.

“Grandpa！ Grandpa！ Did you hurt it？ Please set it free. How unfortunate it is！”

“Oh，” he looked at his granddaughter’s frowned eyebrows and smiled， “I didn’t hurt it， honey. Ask your grandma to come and help. Let’s save it.”

With the help of his wife， the old man extracted the bullet from the big bird’s leg.

The big bird miraculously survived.

Now it was not only little Doudou who greeted him when he returned home every day.

Everyone liked this big beautiful bird.

One day， several strangers came to their home. After a short discussion， they concluded that the big bird was a white crane， a national first-class protected bird. Its kind had been extinct around the lake region for decades.

The old man decided to set it free.

The next day， the old man went fishing as usual. Puff – shook the boat. The old man looked back and couldn’t believe his eyes – it was the white crane！ It perched at ease on the edge of the boat！

“Hush！” he yelled to spook it away. But the white crane leisurely twirled up into the air， and perched back down on the edge of the boat.

The old man had no choice but to take it back home.

Doudou was overjoyed. “Grandpa， how clever the white crane is！ How did it know the way back home？”

The next day， the old man got up early. He took the white crane with him onto his tractor. This time， he would send it to the wetland conservation center in nearby the lake region.

After sending the white crane on its way， the old man came back home. He was smoking when Doudou cried in the yard， “Grandpa， grandpa， it’s the white crane！ The white crane is back！”

A few moments later， the people from the conservation center came. “Seeing the white crane likes you so much， why don’t you take care of it！”

The old man was extremely glad to hear that.

He loved watching the white crane. How beautiful it was， flying in the blue sky！

The sun rose and set. The snow fell and melted. Before he knew it， the long cold winter seemed to get shorter.

This day， the old man was mending the fishing net when he heard the white crane shrieking in a panic.

Following the sound， he saw Doudou in the water！

The old man jumped into the water hurriedly. Just as Doudou was about to drown， he caught ahold of her hand！

It was late at night and the old man was watching his shiny black shotgun.

The old shotgun， a pal for much of his life， was used for hunting fish and birds， a survival skill handed down from his ancestors. Taking aim， pulling the trigger， the bang of a shot， and the bird fell ... How many birds had he killed？ He couldn’t keep count after so many years， but he had never thought that his beloved granddaughter would have been saved by a bird！

The old man buried the gun in the deep wetland.

He became a volunteer in the lake region. Whenever he saw people hunting birds， he would persuade them to stop. Many people were moved by the old man and joined bird protection.

Even though he was in desperate need of money when his wife was severely ill， the old man still rejected bird dealers who tried to tempt him with lump sums of money to pick up bird hunting again.

The spring came. The lake water rose， and the wetlands shrunk.

The old man took the white crane to a shoal far from home， where migratory birds were often seen back from the south.

He bade farewell to the white crane， “Dear white crane， fly as you wish！ Don’t get injured again and come back next year！”

The next winter， the old man was eagerly expecting the white crane to return. Day after day， much to his disappointment， the white crane didn’t show up.

One morning， he heard the wind whispering， and amongst it was the whistle of a crane. The old man nudged his wife， but she heard nothing and laughed at him. “You old fellow must have misheard it. You’ve been missing the white crane too much！”

The old man opened the door. Puff – two white figures！

Look！ Two white cranes！ Two white cranes were dancing on the sand outside the old man’s house！

The white crane came back with its mate！

The news spread very quickly. People hurried to watch the fantastic dance of the white crane couple.

Another year passed. The white crane couple returned to the marsh with their baby white crane！ The old man knew at a glance that the white crane had become a father！

This spring， the white crane family didn’t return to the north but stayed at the old man’s home.

The rainy summer quickly came. One midnight， when everyone was fast asleep， the old man was awakened by a string of crane shrieks.

He got up， only to find the yard immersed in water.

“Flood！?。?Flood?。?！”the old man yelled. He went door to door， waking up the villagers.

After the flood， the villagers rebuilt their homes.

The next year， when the reeds were red again， all villagers expected to see the white crane family.

One morning， the old man heard a burst of cheerful crane whistles from up in the sky. The sun was so bright that he couldn’t open his eyes. But soon he saw clearly tens of white cranes flying as if they were falling snowflakes over the reed in front of his house.

Just as welcoming their relatives that have come from faraway， the small fishing village cheered.

White cranes， we wish you come back peacefully every year！

The White Grane Comes Back

Xiao Aozi

Hunan Juvenile amp; Children’s Publishing House

December 2020

45.80 （CNY）