The Mermaid's Muse: The Legend of the Dragon Boats

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Once there was a great Chinese scholar named Qu Yuan. While he spent his
time wandering around a remote island, meditating and composing poems,
he was watched by a lonely dragon. To get closer, the dragon changed
into an otter, then an old fisherman, and finally struck up a friendship
with the scholar while disguised as a beautiful mermaid. Although the
scholar saw through the dragon’s disguises, they enjoyed each
other’s company so much that the two friends eventually fell in love.
The dragon invited Qu Yuan to come live in an undersea city, and Qu Yuan
agreed. But when local villagers saw the dragon taking him out to sea,
they rushed out in their boats and nearly killed the dragon before Qu
Yuan could stop them. Qu Yuan admonished the villagers to try to see
beyond mere appearances. Then, before their eyes, he too changed into a
dragon and together the two serpents flew off and were never seen again.
To this day, people around the world celebrate this event with dragon
boat races.

This third wonderful collaboration by the award-winning team of David
Bouchard and Zhong-Yang Huang will be equally enjoyed by children and
adults. Bouchard’s well-written, multilayered story contains both a
simple message about toleration and an eloquent statement about the
selfless nature of true love. Huang’s illustrations are simply
stunning. Highly recommended.