The Sleeper

Edith Fowke is a professor emeritus at York University and author of the
recently published Canadian Folklore: Perspectives on Canadian Culture.

Day has written poetry, books on fantasy and myth, and an award-winning
children’s novel, The Emperor’s Panda, as well as The Swan Child,
the first in Doubleday’s Folk Tales from Around the World series.

The Sleeper, another in the same series, is an original fairy tale
based on ancient Chinese traditions. It tells of Wu Wing Wong, the
youngest monk in a sacred monastery high in the Eng mountains of ancient
China. He loves reading in the monastery’s fine library, but he has
one problem: he is always late. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t
wake up in the morning. When a new emperor decrees that every book in
China must be delivered to him on pain of death, young Wu is sent to
deliver the last books to the imperial court. Despite his bad habit, he
manages to save the books and restore peace, order, and prosperity to
China.

The thin, large-format book is lavishly illustrated with Mark
Entwhistle’s water-color paintings filling more than half its 32
pages. It is attractive to look at and should interest young readers.