Purple Hands

Description

When city-girl Mei-Mei takes a vacation to see her Grandmother in a rural Dong village, she is shocked to see Grandmother's hands are stained purple What would make her hands turn that wild color?

Grandmother tells the sing-song tale of how she painstakingly and lovingly used home-grown indigo to fashion a traditional jacket for her beloved granddaughter:

"My old hands were tired, but . . . I love you so, and I wanted to make you something special."

Children and adults alike will be intrigued as Grandmother's secret is revealed with bright illustrations featuring China's ethnic Dong tribe and catchy verbal imagery that showcases an endangered Dong artform.

From the Author
I've seen the huge gap between poor and wealthy, rural and urban, and ancient and modern lifestyles in China. But living in a Dong village, I've been struck by the love between family members that can bridge them all together.

About the Author
Noah has been doing ethnographic work in China since 2002. After completing a master's in Chinese Cultural History in 2015, he moved with his wife and four young children to a small, traditional Dong village in Guangxi province.