The Pear Violin by Bingbo (review)

Chinese author Bingbo is a prolific contributor in his home country, but his books have rarely been seen in translation in America until Starfish Bay’s recent importation of several titles. In The Pear Violin, a creative squirrel makes a violin with the uneaten half of a pear and a bow with “small twigs and whiskers plucked from his beard.” When he begins to play, the music is so beautiful it halts the fox’s pursuit of a chicken and stops the lion chasing a rabbit; all the animals convene to enjoy the concert, suffused with good fellowship from the music (“The lion let the rabbit lie in his arms, so that the rabbit would feel warmer when listening to the music”). A seed from the pear violin grows a new pear tree that bears pears of all sizes, resulting in instruments for all the animals from the great lion to the “teeny tiny beetles.” The tale is gently folkloric, with its underlying message and touches of serendipity, and while the lack of tension lessens the impact, the originality and the entertaining details provide interest. The comparatively small trim size doesn’t show Gumi’s fullbleed watercolor spreads to their best advantage, but there’s a Disney-esque charm to the animal figures that lends appeal. Plenty of amusing elements are tucked into the spreads, such as the snakes and moles traveling from underground to hear the music or the monkey engaging in a goofy balancing act with the pears. This will see its best use as an international ambassador in an introduction to books from other countries, but it may also inspire some DIY instrument making after a lively musical storytime. A long author’s note gives more information about Bingbo.