How Lattimore Writes about Little Pear

Eleanor Frances Lattimore
Little Pear: The Story of a Little Chinese Boy
Harcourt, 2005 (first published in 1931)


Mischievous Little Pear wanders the Chinese countryside around his rural home and makes all manner of funny, endearing, and useful discoveries. Eleanor Frances Lattimore's stories of Little Pear were first published in 1931, accompanied by her charming ink drawings. With chapter titles like "How Little Pear Lit a Firecracker" and "Little Pear Falls into the River and Decides to Be Good," the stories have the feel of Winnie-the-Pooh tales, filled with warm, caring characters. With minimal oversight from parents, Little Pear (like Pooh bear) are given wide latitude for exploration in a world populated by benevolent neighbors. Little Pear indulges in modest luxuries like tang-hulur (糖葫蘆, candied hawthorn berries on a stick), and he suffers mild pains as when he impatiently eats green peaches. The stories are idealized and can be easy targets for criticism, but that would be to miss the gentleness and generosity of heart that are the center of Little Pear's world.