满月 (Full Moon) – A Touching Story About a Young Chinese Adoptee

满月 (Mǎnyuè / Full Moon) is a beautiful, touching story about a young adoptee who learns about family love and loss during Mid-Autumn Festival. The book is featured in our recommended Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival books, but the poignant book deserves it’s own post.  I highly recommend this 满月 story to all families.

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满月 (Full Moon) Chinese Book Review

• Title: 满月 (Mǎnyuè / Full Moon)
• Author: 保冬妮
• Publisher: 希望出版社
• Age level: 3 and up*
• ISBN: 9787537972635
• Language: Simplified Chinese
• Where to buy: 
  • China Sprout (US)
  • My Story Treasury (Singapore)

*Although the publisher suggests this book for ages 3-6 years, older children and adults can appreciate the narrative due to the topics of death and adoption.

Synopsis

The story is about a girl named 满月 (Mǎnyuè / Full Moon), and her name carries special meaning throughout the story.

满月 was born on the day of a full moon, but her parents died from a contagious infection. The author’s afterword clarifies that the cause was AIDS from a blood transfusion.

First, the child’s father passes away. When her mother dies, the moon is a waning crescent.  满月’s mother promises that they will visit when the moon becomes full again, giving 满月 great hope.

In the meantime, the grandfather of the village, 王爷爷 (Wáng yéyé) cares for the child until her new adoptive parents from the city brings her home when the moon is full.

In her new home, 满月’s adoptive parents show her love, and she grows happily while remembering her birth parents.

Reflection

Compared to typical picture books for children, the language is more poetic. There is so much to discuss with the thoughtful text and expressive watercolor illustrations. This is one of those books that we come back to year after year, knowing that we can explore the book more deeply as our kids grow.

As a non-fluent Chinese speaker, I was initially not able to understand the deeper meaning of the story. The language of the afterword is too complex for my current language level.

After my toddler’s Chinese tutor read the story and afterward to us, we could understand the context that inspired the author 保冬妮.  Our tutor and I had tears in our eyes, but my toddler didn’t fully understand the pain and warmth of loss and love.

However, the 满月 story invoked curiosity in my child, especially about whether or not the story was real versus realistic versus fiction.  Since she read this story as a privileged toddler with no hardship, the concept of losing both parents and then becoming adopted is quite abstract.

Photos of 满月 (Full Moon) Chinese Picture Book

The lovely watercolor illustrations throughout the 满月 capture the emotions and relationships.

My daughter was so inspired by 满月’s artwork, and she tried to draw the same picture!

Here is a beautiful poem at the back of the book:

My daughter reading 满月

Here is a video of my daughter reading part of the story.

I actually cropped the first part of the video because my daughter was strangely narrating in a very robotic manner that detracted from the meaning of the story.

Normally, she reads beautifully.  But when we listened to the video together, it was an opportunity to observe and be aware of how our voice conveys empathy appropriately.

Effective story telling is so much more than simply reading words!

In summary, I highly recommend the 满月 story, and I know it is one that my kids and I will revisit year after year.  I look forward to seeing my daughter’s perspective mature when we revisit the book in the future.  I will also be looking for more 保冬妮 books to add to our home library!

Happy reading, friends!