Tales of the Forest (English-Chinese, 5-Book Set): Ge Cuilin’s Stories of Seasons, Animals & Friendship

This is not a collection of traditional folk tales, and it is not a text-heavy anthology. It is a five-book set of original picture books by Ge Cuilin, one of China’s most celebrated children‘s authors and a founder of the Bing Xin Children’s Literature Award, illustrated by Zhang Weixin. Each slim volume follows the small animals of the forest through one season: visitors arriving in spring, willows turning green, lotus flowers opening in summer, maple leaves reddening in autumn, and snowflakes drifting in winter. The stories are gentle, the language is rhythmic, and the illustrations are full of warmth. The Chinese and English texts are presented together, with pinyin to help young readers follow the Chinese. If you want a set of bilingual picture books that introduce children to nature, seasons, and friendship—rather than traditional fables or a dense story collection—this is it.