Little Wang-lo: A gentle tale of courage, kindness, and a friendship that glows like a lantern at dusk (Tales around the world)

El siguiente texto es un extracto del libro Little Wang-lo: A gentle tale of courage, kindness, and a friendship that glows like a lantern at dusk (Tales around the world) (ISBN: 9781807131357) Conocerlo, entenderlo, interpretarlo y ayudarlo, escrito por Vicky Sontag, publicado por de Vecchi /DVE ediciones.

Come and discover china!

Wang-lo lives beside a broad river in an imagined China of long ago. On this map, you can discover some of the landscapes, animals, and landmarks that make China extraordinary.

Can you find the Great Wall, the giant pandas, the rice terraces, and Wang-lo’s river home?

About this story

Little Wang-lo was written by M. C. Bell and first published in London in 1903. This new adaptation retells the story for readers aged 9–12, preserving its lively fantasy and warning against greed while giving greater depth to Wang-lo’s courage, compassion, and friendship with Wee-wee.

The original book reflects a European writer’s imaginary picture of China at the beginning of the twentieth century; it should not be read as an authentic Chinese folktale or as a factual portrait of Chinese life. The present edition places that fantasy within the wider world of Chinese landscapes and visual traditions while inviting young readers to approach another culture with curiosity and respect.

Why this story?

Wang-lo’s adventure asks a question that children everywhere understand: what should we do when obedience conflicts with kindness? As Wang-lo learns to see Wee-wee as a friend rather than a prize, the story reminds us that courage can mean changing our minds—and that greed can make us lose what truly matters.

Meet Wang-Lo

Before the story begins, meet Wang-lo, a boy who lives on a houseboat on a broad river. The water is his road, his playground, and his home. Each morning, he wakes to ducks calling, boats creaking, and mist rising before the nearby town is fully awake.

Wang-lo helps his father, Fo-Pa, buy and sell ducks at the market. In the world imagined by this story, children share the family’s work from an early age: feeding animals, carrying messages, and helping at home. The market is crowded with baskets of food, clattering carts, bright lanterns, and merchants calling from their stalls.

Wang-lo knows the river better than the roads and tries hard to do what his father expects. Yet, like many children in fairy tales, he is about to discover that the world is wider, stranger, and more surprising than he imagined.

As you read, notice how Wang-lo changes. At first, he is frightened of making mistakes and eager to please his father. Through his adventures with a runaway pig and an unexpected treasure, he learns to think for himself and to choose kindness even when it is difficult.

Once upon a time, on a wide brown river near a busy Chinese town, there lived a boy called Wang-lo. His home was a wooden houseboat that rocked gently on the water, with bamboo baskets stacked near the door and duck feathers drifting like tiny white boats beside it. Every morning, he woke to water lapping against the hull, the creak of passing oars, and the impatient cries of ducks demanding their breakfast.

Wang-lo lived with his father, Fo-Pa, whom he always called Pa. Fo-Pa was a duck merchant, and the water around their boat was often crowded with ducks of every size and colour, paddling among fishing nets, floating weeds, and the trembling reflections of red lanterns.

There were white ducks, black ducks, brown ducks, big ducks, tiny ducklings, and solemn middle-sized ducks with very important expressions. The ducks said “quack,” the drakes said “quork,” and the ducklings said “queek,” until the whole river sounded like a muddled orchestra tuning itself in the morning sun.

Wang-lo rose early each day, while the mist still floated over the river like a pale silk scarf. The boards felt cool beneath his bare feet, and the damp air smelled of mud, wet reeds, and feathers. Standing at the edge of the boat, he clapped his hands and called the ducks close.

He scattered their breakfast into the water, and they rushed forward in a flurry of wings, ripples, and greedy beaks. After eating, they swam downriver to hunt among the reeds for little fish, frogs, and water snails. Only at night, when the sky turned pink and gold, did they paddle home for supper and sleep.

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