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Little or no knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is needed to read this book and to begin to acquire the language.

Harry, a young American, goes to Beijing to learn Mandarin. At the same time, a young Korean woman named Min-Jee also goes to Beijing to learn Mandarin. At first, since they have no common language, they cannot speak to each other. As a relationship begins to develop, a surprising incident occurs in their Mandarin class and they begin to communicate in Mandarin. Lively illustrations infuse the story with reality. The story continues in Book Two, Night Owl. Look for it soon on this website.

Clear English translations are provided throughout the story as well as a glossary with notes. The story is given in pinyin (in Latin letters), which helps the reader with pronunciation, and also in both simplified and traditional Chinese.