Anyone who has visited Hong Kong is familiar with the boat people of Aberdeen Harbor - the fascinating “sea gypsies” who fish, work, eat, sleep and play on their brightly-colored junks and trawlers.

Dean Barrett uses this community as a backdrop for a modern day Hong Kong fairy tale - the story of an 8-year-old girl named Kum-Choi (Golden Wealth) and a magic fish who befriends her in times of need.

Kum-Choi, like many children of Hong Kong fisherfolk, spends her childhood helping with daily chores: filling water tanks, cleaning the poop deck and washing clothes in wooden buckets. But holidays bring great excitement, and in her free time she daydreams about sea monsters and magic.

Her life changes one day when she is told that she must live on land and attend school. She tries making friends with her classmates, but they ridicule her for being different. The magic fish is her only consolation. Whenever Kum-Choi's tears reach the sea, the fish comes to her rescue.

One day a typhoon strikes - a phenomenon that fisherfolk recognize as the “stars eating the clouds.” Kum-Choi's classmates are on a boat at sea, so she calls on the magic fish for help. Together, the boat girl and the fish courageously drag the classmates to shore.

The ending is bittersweet, especially for young readers used to “happily ever after” finales. Kum-Choi elects to leave her loving family behind, in favor of spending eternity as a marble statue, together with her magic fish. Worshipers pray to the statue every year, thanking Kum-Choi for her heroic rescue efforts. Although readers run the risk of thinking that this is a true Hong Kong folk legend, it is meant only as a fairy tale.

The language in this book, while over-descriptive at times, has striking images that conjure up the beauty of life on the sea:

Hundreds of fish flapped across the teakwood deck of her father's trawler like brightly-colored leaves in an autumn wind.

Tomaz Mok's illustrations are equally arresting. Reminiscent of Japanese wood block style prints, they come alive with vivid colors that match the text:

In her mind's eye she could see... the snowy-white nets of the drift netting junks; and she would remember the fishing vessel's beautiful butterfly-wing sails in russet, indigo and brown.
The real beauty of this book is that it gives a long-overdue alternative to Western fairy tales. Why should all heroines have blonde hair, blue eyes and aspire to wear ball gowns and marry princes? Why can't a heroine be the daughter of a Hong Kong fishing family, whose dream is to live at sea?

When Asian children read about the people and places around them, it validates their own reality, hopes, fears and concerns. Yet this is by no means an exclusively Asian book. Its themes appeal to children of all backgrounds: changes in family life, acceptance from a new group of peers, social class differences, and the need for friendship.

While the past few years have seen an expanding list of Asian multi-cultural picture books for young readers (4 - 6) and middle grade readers (10 - 13), there is little available for the 6-10 year range. The Boat Girl and the Magic Fish, while longer than an average picture book (approximately 2,500 words), can be enjoyed either as a parent-read book for 6 through 8-year olds, or as a self-read book for a slightly older audience. This book is long overdue, and it is hoped that more in this genre will follow.

Roseanne Thong
01 March 2003

Roseanne Thong is author of Red is Dragon and Round is a Mooncake, multicultural picture books featuring Asian culture. She has also written numerous short stories and works of non-fiction. She divides her time between Hong Kong and Los Angeles.