So great was Li Lun's fear of the sea that he refused to go on his first fishing voyage — his man-making trip. Such defiance brought swift, stern punishment. Let him stay on land then, his father commanded, and plant rice — plant it on the distant mountaintop; and let him not come back until he had grown there seven times as many grains of rice as he had planted.

The chapter titles tell the story of Li Lun's trials and final triumph: Defiance; Preparation; The Climb; Night; Planting; Mildew; A Visitor; Rain; Rats; Drought; Harvest; Temple Ceremony. Here is not merely a stirring tale of the courage of a Chinese boy on a lonely island off the coast of China; here is an epic of courage anywhere.

The universal quality and high dramatic value of the story are perfectly reflected in the author's simple, beautiful style and again in Kurt Wiese's lovely pictures.

From the dust jacket