Long ago in China, the tiny cricket singing in the night was held in high esteem. Men of every rank and station kept them as pets, and enjoyed entering their long-legged champions in the cricket fights. Even the poor Scholar Hu and his son, Hu Sing, took great pride in their fighters. In fact, the fame of their fighting cricket Black Dragon was such that the Emperor Hwie Jung himself came to hear of it and desired to match Scholar Hu's champion against his own.

The day he was summoned to bring Black Dragon to the Emperor, Scholar Hu gave thanks to his ancestors. But his joy was short-lived, for, that day the poor scholar was suddenly bereft of both his son and his prized cricket. He could not know that the cricket boy would yet find a way to bring honor to his father and to the name of Hu.

With their elegantly simple text and exquisite full-color illustrations, Feenie Ziner and Ed Young have transformed the ancient fable of the cricket boy into a modern classic.

From the dust jacket