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Far East Genre

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Books in the Far East genre:

Liang & Lo (1930)

Liang and Lo set out on the back of Lo’s water buffalo to slay the dragon.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Kurt Wiese
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Rustam: Lion of Persia (1930)

A retelling of the Persian epic concerning the knight paladin Rustam from the Shahnameh or Book of Kings of Ferdowsi, written around 1000 A.D.

Author(s): Alan Lake Chidsey
Illustrator(s): Lois Lenski

Sonny Elephant: A Jungle Tale (1930)

An Indian elephant goes to the edge of the forest to find out more about this creature, man.

Author(s): Madge A. Bigham
Illustrator(s): Berta Hader
Elmer Hader

The Good Earth (1931)

A family story of China. Tenggren did only the dust jacket.

Author(s): Pearl S. Buck
Illustrator(s): Gustaf Tenggren

Yankee Ships in Pirate Waters (1931)

A series of adventures, some true, others fictional, of American merchantmen and their encounters with pirates around the world. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Rupert Sargent Holland
Illustrator(s): Frank Schoonover

Mutiny on the Bounty (1932)

Mutiny on the Bounty is the title of the 1932 novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, based on the mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of the Bounty in 1789. It has been made into several films and a musical. It was t... View More

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (1932)

At age thirteen Young Fu is apprenticed to a coppersmith in the big city of Chungking. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Newbery Medal
Newbery Medal - 1933
Newbery Medal
Junior Literary Guild - 1932

The Story about Ping (1933)

Ping is a young duck, who misses her master’s boat at evening and must struggle to find her way back the next day. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Marjorie Flack
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Ho-Ming, Girl of New China (1934)

A twelve-year old girl finds a new way of growing up in the changing society of China in the 1920’s. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Junior Literary Guild
Junior Literary Guild - 1934

Pitcairn’s Island (1934)

Following the mutiny on HMS Bounty, Fletcher Christian along with eight of the Bounty’s crew, six Polynesian men and twelve Polynesian women sail for Pitcairn’s Island where they scuttle the Bounty.

Fierce-Face: The Story of a Tiger (1936)

The story of the growth of a young tiger from cub to independent lord of the jungle. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Illustrator(s): Dorothy P. Lathrop

Great Kipling Stories Together with a Life of Rudyard Kipling (1936)

A selection of Rudyard Kipling’s greatest short stories and poems.

Author(s): Rudyard Kipling
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

The Hurricane (1936)

The story of a hurricane that strikes a south Pacific island.

Read online at archive.org. 

Tilio: A Boy of Papua (1937)

The story of a young boy in Papua New Guinea who is forced into servitude but eventually finds his freedom.

Author(s): Rudolf Vorrhoeve
Illustrator(s): Hilda van Stockum

The Five Chinese Brothers (1938)

When the first Chinese brother is condemned to death, the second takes his place and cannot be beheaded, so he is condemned to be drowned, so the third brother takes his place ... Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Claire Huchet Bishop
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Tales of Poindi (1938)

A retelling of native folk tales and legends from New Caledonia.

Author(s): Jean Mariotti
Illustrator(s): Feodor Rojankovsky

With Love and Irony (1940)

American and Chinese cultural humor book.

Read online at archive.org.

Author(s): Yutang Lin
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Missee Lee (1941)

The Swallows, Amazons and Captain Flint are sailing around the world when they have to abandon ship off the coast of China. When they are captured by a female Chinese pirate, they end up forming a makeshift prep school. Read online at archive.org.&nb... View More

Author(s): Arthur Ransome
Illustrator(s): Arthur Ransome

Whampoa (1941)

Author(s): Daniel Hawthorne
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Missee Lee (1942)

The Swallows, Amazons and Captain Flint are sailing around the world when they have to abandon ship off the coast of China. When they are captured by a female Chinese pirate, they end up forming a makeshift prep school.

Author(s): Arthur Ransome
Illustrator(s): Arthur Ransome
Unknown

Sonny Elephant: A Jungle Tale (1942)

This second edition has fewer pages and fewer illustrations to this story of an Indian elephant whose curiosity takes him to the edge of the forest to find out more about this creature, man.

Author(s): Madge A. Bigham
Illustrator(s): Berta Hader
Elmer Hader

When the Typhoon Blows (1942)

Li and his grandfather lose their livelihood as fishermen and become refugees in China during the Sino-Japanese Conflict. Read online at archive.org... View More

Author(s): Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Junior Literary Guild
Junior Literary Guild - 1943

The Adventures of Monkey (1943)

The roguish Monkey and his encounters with major and minor spirits, gods, demigods, demons, ogres, monsters, and fairies.

Author(s): Arthur Waley
Ch’eng-en Wu
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Peter the Great (1943)

A biography of the Russian Tsar who built St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea as his new capital.

Author(s): Nina B. Baker
Illustrator(s): Louis Slobodkin

The Big Green Umbrella (1944)

One day the big green umbrella sets out to see the world and travels to China and back.

Author(s): Elizabeth Coatsworth
Illustrator(s): Helen Sewell

Boat Children of Canton (1944)

A brother and sister displaced by the war in China go in search of their family. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Marion B. Ward
Illustrator(s): Helen Sewell

Junior Literary Guild
Junior Literary Guild - 1944

You Can Write Chinese (1945)

Teaches children simple words in Chinese and how the characters are formed. We count 60 unnumbered pages. Read online at archive.org.... View More

Author(s): Kurt Wiese
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Caldecott Honor Book
Caldecott Honor Book - 1946

The Picture Story of China (1946)

Picture book about China. 

Author(s): Emily Hahn
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Li Lun: Lad of Courage (1947)

Because of his fear of the sea, a young Chinese boy is sent to a distant mountain where he proves his bravery. Banished to a mountaintop to learn to grow rice, Li Lun proves his courage as he fights the elements and his own loneliness to make his ric... View More

Author(s): Carolyn Treffinger
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Newbery Honor Book
Newbery Honor Book - 1948

Dike Against the Sea (1948)

An exciting adventure, with two Chinese children, that teaches about life in China and about the values of Christian missions.

Author(s): Mary Brewster Hollister
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Fish in the Air (1948)

A tale of what Tai Fung, which means Big Wind, did to change the ideas of the little Chinese boy named Fish, who had persuaded his father, Honorable Fish, to buy him the biggest fish shaped kite he could find. Read online at archive.org.... View More

Author(s): Kurt Wiese
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Caldecott Honor Book
Caldecott Honor Book - 1949
Caldecott Honor Book
Junior Literary Guild - 1948

Little Black Sambo (1948)

The classic story of a little Indian boy who turns the tables on a tiger who wants to eat him for breakfast. Later editions are much shortened.

Author(s): Helen Bannerman
Illustrator(s): Gustaf Tenggren

The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1949)

Open sesame opens the treasure cave to Ali, but the thieves will try to recover their ill-gotten gains.

Author(s): E. Powys Mathers
Illustrator(s): Edward Ardizzone

The Flowered Donkey (1950)

A story about a noisy, skewbald donkey, set in the Chinese countryside.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Margaret Mackay
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Quest in the Desert (1950)

An American scientific expedition to explore the Gobi Desert faces many dangers, but survives with the help of the leader's dog and a friendly Mongolian ruler.

Author(s): Roy Chapman Andrews
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Junior Literary Guild
Junior Literary Guild - 1950

A Town Like Alice (1950)

A group of English women and children led by Jean Paget are captured by the Japanese in Malaya during World War II and forced to march from village to village. Joe Harman, an Australian prisoner of war, aids them and is crucified by the Japanese for ... View More

Author(s): Neville Shute
Illustrator(s): Unknown

The Golden Geography: A Child’s Introduction to the World (1952)

This is a brief survey of the the world’s geography, copiously illustrated.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Elsa Jane Werner
Illustrator(s): Cornelius Hugh De Witt

The Wonderful Adventures of Ting Ling (1952)

Fairy tale of how Ting Ling, a juggler's assistant, fought the terrible Golden Dragon, faced the problem of raising the Sunken Bronze Bell, met the challenge of the Flower of Life atop Glass Mountain, and made fire with water--all to win the lovely P... View More

Author(s): Vernon Bowen
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

My Friend Yakub (1953)

The author describes his boyhood in a small Siberian village and his friend Yacub, a Tartar storyteller. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Nicholas Kalashnikoff
Illustrator(s): Feodor Rojankovsky

Ning’s Pony (1953)

This is a simple story about a small Chinese boy and a pony with one bad habit -- he wouldn't cross bridges. We count 27 unnumbered pages. Read online at Internet Archive.... View More

Author(s): Hester Hawkes
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Kim of Korea (1955)

Kim, a ten-year-old orphan, travels from Seoul to Inchon in search of an American soldier who has promised to adopt him and take him to America. He has never been away from his little hill town, and he has many adventures on the way.

Author(s): Peter Lumn
Faith Norris
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Junior Literary Guild
Junior Literary Guild - 1955

Quest of the Snow Leopard (1955)

This is a fictional account of a zoological expedition to the Tibetan frontier and the province of Yunnan in southwestern China. Read online at archive.org.... View More

Author(s): Roy Chapman Andrews
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

China’s Courts and Concubines: Some People in Chinese History (1956)

A collection of Chinese historical vignettes based on personages of the royal courts.

Author(s): Bernard Llewellyn
Illustrator(s): Pauline Baynes

Three Seeds (1956)

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Hester Hawkes
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Hassan of Basorah (1958)

When the cruel magician strands Hassan on the mountain top he fears he is lost. The seven little sisters take him in and he meets the swan maiden, but his adventures are just beginning.

Author(s): Monica Backway
Illustrator(s): Pauline Baynes

Best in Children’s Books Volume 23 (1959)

An anthology containing Kintu by Elizabeth Enright with new illustrations by Bobri. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Land of Black Gold (1959)

Tintin and the two T detectives set off for the middle east to investigate a problem with the gasoline supply. It was substantially rewritten for this first English language edition. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Hergé
Illustrator(s): Hergé

Lord Jim (1959)

Driven from the sea by a youthful act of cowardice and betrayal, Jim makes a new life for himself, but is again faced with a life and death decision on which hinges the fate of many innocents.

Author(s): Joseph Conrad
Illustrator(s): Lynd Ward

Best in Children’s Books Volume 33 (1960)

An anthology of stories, poems and articles, some of which have new illustrations. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

The Red Sea Sharks (1960)

Tintin and Haddock journey to the middle east to assist the Emir of Khemed and are soon embroiled in the Arab slave trade. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Hergé
Illustrator(s): Hergé

Shan’s Lucky Knife (1960)

A Burmese folktale about a boy from the hills who outwits the owner of the ship.

Author(s): Jean Merrill
Illustrator(s): Ronni Solbert

Where the Lion Trod (1960)

An account of the legacy of the British Raj in India, not long after independence.

Author(s): Gordon Shepherd
Illustrator(s): John Verney

My Friend Yakub (1961)

The author describes his boyhood in a small Siberian village and his friend Yacub, a Tartar storyteller.

Author(s): Nicholas Kalashnikoff
Illustrator(s): Feodor Rojankovsky

Silver from the Sea (1962)

At Long Hai beach in Vietnam a young native boy has his first exciting experience of helping to collect fish as his forefathers had always done.

Author(s): Ruth Tooze
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Tintin in Tibet (1962)

Tintin and Haddock travel to the Himalayas to search for his friend who is reported lost after a plane crash.

Author(s): Hergé
Illustrator(s): Hergé

Cape Lost (1963)

Gabrielle wants to go into the family business of sheep ranching in New Zealand.

Author(s): Joyce West
Illustrator(s): Joyce West

The Jungle Books (1963)

The complete adventures of Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle.

Author(s): Rudyard Kipling
Illustrator(s): Tibor Gergely

The Golden Geography: A Child’s Introduction to the World (1964)

This revised edition is significantly shorter than the original.

Author(s): Jane Werner Watson
Illustrator(s): Cornelius Hugh De Witt

Tales and Legends from India (1965)

Traditional tales from Assam, where the author has lived for many years.

Author(s): Iris Macfarlane
Illustrator(s): None

Yasu and the Strangers (1965)

Yasu is on a school trip to the temple of Nara in Japan when he finds a fawn and two American tourists who are lost.

Author(s): Louis Slobodkin
Illustrator(s): Louis Slobodkin

Flight 714 (1968)

Tintin and his companions are hijacked to a desert island in the Celebes where they are rescued by extraterrestrials.

Author(s): Hergé
Illustrator(s): Hergé

Five Hundred Animals from A to Z (1970)

Surely the largest, most inclusive animal picture book of them all.

Author(s): Joseph A. Davis
Illustrator(s): Tibor Gergely

Miss Bianca in the Orient (1970)

When a young page at the court of the Ranee of the Orient is sentenced to death, the Mouse Prisoners’ Aid society sends it most accomplished operatives to the rescue - Miss Bianca and Bernard. Read online at archive.org. ... View More

Author(s): Margery Sharp
Illustrator(s): Erik Blegvad

The Land of Green Ginger (1975)

In this revised version, the original chapter 8 has been dropped. This leaves seven fewer illustrations. The rear cover is new. This edition was re-issued by Faber and Faber in 2001.

Author(s): Noel Langley
Illustrator(s): Edward Ardizzone

Mutiny on the Bounty (1978)

Mutiny on the Bounty is the title of the 1932 novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, based on the mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of the Bounty in 1789. It has been made into several films and a musical. It was t... View More

The Enchanted Horse (1981)

An Indian tale of twin princes and a magic horse.

Author(s): Rosemary Harris
Illustrator(s): Pauline Baynes

The Iron Lion (1983)

The suitor who would win the princess must bring the iron lion, alive or dead.

Author(s): Peter Dickinson
Illustrator(s): Pauline Baynes

Some Words & Drawings from Edward Ardizzone’s Indian Diary (1983)

The artist was sent to India by UNESCO to teach a course in silk screen printing and here records his impressions. This was a publisher’s Christmas keepsake.

Author(s): Edward Ardizzone
Illustrator(s): Edward Ardizzone

Indian Diary (1984)

The artist was sent to India by UNESCO to teach a course in silk screen printing and here records his impressions.

Author(s): Edward Ardizzone
Illustrator(s): Edward Ardizzone

The Serpent’s Children (1984)

In nineteenth-century China a young girl struggles to protect her family

Author(s): Laurence Yep
Illustrator(s): David Wiesner

The Rainbow People (1989)

Twenty Chinese folktales brought to the United States.

Author(s): Laurence Yep
Illustrator(s): David Wiesner

The Star Fisher (1991)

A Chinese-American family moves from Ohio to West Virginia in the 1920’s.

Author(s): Laurence Yep
Illustrator(s): David Wiesner

Tongues of Jade (1991)

A collection of seventeen Chinese-American folktales.

Author(s): Laurence Yep
Illustrator(s): David Wiesner

Rama and Sita (2002)

A retelling of a Hindu epic poem.

Author(s): David Weitzman
Illustrator(s): David Weitzman

Mosque (2003)

Details the building of a sixteenth century mosque.

Author(s): David Macaulay
Illustrator(s): David Macaulay

The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story (2005)

The classic story of an Indian boy raised by wolves. This is the limited edition.

Author(s): Rudyard Kipling
Illustrator(s): Nicola Bayley

The Jungle Book Mowgli’s Story (2005)

The classic story of an Indian boy raised by wolves. This is the regular edition.

Read online at archive.org.

Author(s): Rudyard Kipling
Illustrator(s): Nicola Bayley

The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story (2009)

The classic story of an Indian boy raised by wolves. This is the paperback edition.

Read online at archive.org.

Author(s): Rudyard Kipling
Illustrator(s): Nicola Bayley

The Jungle Book Panorama Pops (2015)

The story of Mowgli, the man-cub, told in pop-ups.

Author(s): Rudyard Kipling
Illustrator(s): Nicola Bayley

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