This is part of our series of interviews with some of the speakers at the 2017 Shanghai International Literary Festival
Shanghai Literary Festival favorite Sarah Brennan has delighted families with her series of children’s books, The Chinese Calendar Tales. Illustrated by Harry Harrison, the best-selling collection brings to life the animal of the year of the Chinese zodiac for a romp through Chinese history.
“My whole aim with The China Calendar Tales is to teach kids Chinese history in a fun way,” Brennan explains. “At the back of the book, we have explanations on the history and sources for readers to check out.”
“We still have the dog and the pig to go, which will cover the Qing and Ming Dynasty, but at the end we will have a big box set that provides kids an overview of some of the most important historical periods, figures and folklore in China, but in a very entertaining way.”
Her latest, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster is the first in the series to take place in Shanghai. Set in the 1920s, it follows a car race on the Bund that pits the six residing foreign powers against each other battling for national pride.
“Roosters are very proud, very active, very noisy and they like to boast a lot. The good thing about roosters is that they keep their promises and they’re very loyal friends.” Brennan explains.
“So this particular rooster belongs to Tommy Tan, who was the fastest rickshaw driver in Shanghai but is retired. All over town, this rooster has been crowing that Tommy Tan is going to win the race even though Tommy isn’t interested.”
When he finally loses it, it’s up to Rickshaw Rooster to puff himself up, strap on a rickshaw and win the race while Tommy lies asleep in the back. Brennan laughs about the comical circumstances that knock out the rooster’s foreign competitors, but she says the book is highly symbolic.
“Everyone is cheering because never has a local person won the race before,” she says. “It’s my homage to Shanghai and the feisty local Chinese, who were proud of their city and hung in there while the foreign powers were around.”
While she only has a couple more animals to cover in The China Calendar Tales series, Brennan promises she has “loads of plans for more books about China, because I’m passionate about Chinese history.”
“It’s important that everyone in the world know about Chinese history because it’s been so neglected. The world has been connected to China for a long time, and the Silk Road was China’s huge contribution to the world.”
Mar 19, 10am, RMB85. See listing for Glam. Tickets available at their website.The Shanghai International Literary Festival returns to M on the Bund from March 10-22, bringing together authors of all stripes. View the full schedule here. See more interviews with 2017 Shanghai Lit Festival authors here.
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