Mooncakes tells the story of a young girl celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival with her parents. As they eat mooncakes, drink tea, and gaze at the night sky, the girl's parents tell her ancient tales about figures from Chinese mythology who are said to live on the moon, including Chang-E, a woman who drank an elixir of immortality and fled to the moon; Wu-Gang, an eternal woodcutter still chopping at an uncuttable tree; and Jade Rabbit, who offered himself to be eaten by poor travelers.

1. mooncakes
L oretta Seto is a fiction writer,
Loretta Seto
screenwriter and playwright who has
been published in Ricepaper magazine
mooncakes
and the anthology Strike the Wok.
Loretta completed her mfa in creative
writing at UBC. Mooncakes is her first
children’s book. She lives in Vancouver,
British Columbia. For more information, Tonight the moon shines like a polished
please visit www.lorettaseto.com. pearl, round and fat. It glows bigger and
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brighter than I have ever seen.
R enné Benoit is an award-winning
Tonight is a special night.
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Renné Benoit
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Tonight I am allowed to stay up late.
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Loretta Seto
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illustrator of many books for children, Soon there will be mooncakes to eat,
illustrated by
including Goodbye to Griffith Street sweet and chewy. They are round like
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D iscover the magical celebration
(Orca), which won the Christie Harris the moon. They make a circle for me and
Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize. Mama and Baba. They make a circle
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In 2012, Big City Bees (Greystone) was for my family.
of the Chinese Moon Festival.
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shortlisted for the Governor General’s
and
Literary Award in the Children’s
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Renné Benoit
Literature Illustration category. Renné
currently works out of her home studio
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Mooncakes is the lyrical story of a
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in St. Thomas, Ontario. young girl who shares the special
celebration of the Chinese Moon
Festival with her parents. As they eat
mooncakes, drink tea and watch the
night sky together, Mama and Baba
tell ancient tales of a magical tree
that can never be cut down, Jade
$19.95 Rabbit who came to live on the moon
and one brave woman’s journey to
eternal life.
cov er a rt wor k by r en n é benoit
jack e t design by t er esa bu bel a
pr in t ed in c a na da

2. mooncakes
L oretta Seto is a fiction writer,
Loretta Seto
screenwriter and playwright who has
been published in Ricepaper magazine
mooncakes
and the anthology Strike the Wok.
Loretta completed her mfa in creative
writing at UBC. Mooncakes is her first
children’s book. She lives in Vancouver,
British Columbia. For more information, Tonight the moon shines like a polished
please visit www.lorettaseto.com. pearl, round and fat. It glows bigger and
ut opy
ut opy
brighter than I have ever seen.
R enné Benoit is an award-winning
Tonight is a special night.
n
n
rib C
rib C
Renné Benoit
io
Tonight I am allowed to stay up late.
io
Loretta Seto
st ng
st ng
illustrator of many books for children, Soon there will be mooncakes to eat,
illustrated by
including Goodbye to Griffith Street sweet and chewy. They are round like
di adi
di adi
D iscover the magical celebration
(Orca), which won the Christie Harris the moon. They make a circle for me and
Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize. Mama and Baba. They make a circle
or Re
or Re
h
In 2012, Big City Bees (Greystone) was for my family.
of the Chinese Moon Festival.
t f ce
t f ce
shortlisted for the Governor General’s
and
Literary Award in the Children’s
n o va n
n o va n
Renné Benoit
Literature Illustration category. Renné
currently works out of her home studio
Ad
Mooncakes is the lyrical story of a
Ad
in St. Thomas, Ontario. young girl who shares the special
celebration of the Chinese Moon
Festival with her parents. As they eat
mooncakes, drink tea and watch the
night sky together, Mama and Baba
tell ancient tales of a magical tree
that can never be cut down, Jade
$19.95 Rabbit who came to live on the moon
and one brave woman’s journey to
eternal life.
cov er a rt wor k by r en n é benoit
jack e t design by t er esa bu bel a
pr in t ed in c a na da

3. Ad
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mooncakes

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5. mooncakes ut opy
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Loretta Seto
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Renné Benoit
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illustrated by
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6. Text copyright © 2013 Loretta Seto
Illustrations copyright © 2013 Renné Benoit
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Seto, Loretta, 1976-
Mooncakes / Loretta Seto ; illustrated by Renné Benoit.
Issued also in electronic format.
isbn 978-1-4598-0107-3
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I. Benoit, Renné II. Title.
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ps8637.e865m66 2013 jc813’.6 c2012-907458-6
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First published in the United States, 2013
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012952944
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Summary: A young girl shares the special celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival with her parents, who tell her
ancient tales about Chang-E, the woman who lives on the moon; Wu-Gang, the woodcutter; and Jade Rabbit.
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Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book
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on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council ®.
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Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies:
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the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts,
and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover and interior artwork created using watercolor, colored pencil and gouache.
Cover artwork by Renné Benoit
Design by Teresa Bubela
orca book publishers orca book publishers
po Box 5626, Stn. B po Box 468
Victoria, bc Canada Custer, wa usa
v8r 6s4 98240-0468
www.orcabook.com
Printed and bound in Canada.
16 15 14 13 • 4 3 2 1

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For my parents, Gaye and Barry Seto
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—LS
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For my family
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—RB
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onight the moon shines like a
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polished pearl, round and fat.
It glows bigger and brighter
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than I have ever seen.
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Tonight is a special night.
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11. Tonight I am allowed to stay up late.
Soon there will be mooncakes to eat,
sweet and chewy. They are round like
the moon. They make a circle for me
and Mama and Baba. They make a circle
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for my family.
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Outside, we light paper lanterns.
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I made one all by myself, using my
favorite colors. The lanterns and stars
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light up the sky. The moon makes
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everything shine like silver and water.
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In our backyard, we sit together in a big chair.
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We watch small, dusty clouds brush the moon’s
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face. The wind shakes the leaves. Husshh, husshh.
Baba pulls the blanket close.
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16. Mama and Baba tell me about Chang-E,
the woman who lives on the moon.
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Long ago, the world had ten suns in the
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sky, and it became too hot and dry.
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The Jade Emperor asked his most
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skilled archer, Hou-Yi, to help.
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17. Hou-Yi aimed high and far. He shot down nine of
the suns, and the world became safe again.
As a reward, Hou-Yi wanted the elixir of eternal
life. But Hou-Yi was not a good man. He was cruel
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and wanted to live forever so that he could rule the
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people of China.
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Since Hou-Yi had saved the world from becoming
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a desert, the Jade Emperor had no choice but to
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grant Hou-Yi his wish.
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Hou-Yi’s wife, Chang-E, knew of her husband’s
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unkind ways. She took the elixir from Hou-Yi and
ran away.
Hou-Yi chased Chang-E across the land, over
rivers, valleys and mountains, until the harvest
moon rose high above them.
Finally, with Hou-Yi at her back, Chang-E drank
the elixir to escape and was lifted up to the moon,
where she lives in the Jade Palace now and forever.

19. I look for Chang-E and the Jade Palace on
the moon, but I don’t see them. “Maybe they
are on the other side,” I say.
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Mama and Baba smile and pull me close
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so I will stay warm.
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20. “Time for mooncakes,” Mama says. We have
mini ones and medium ones, but we share a
big one. It tastes better when we eat it together.
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Mama and Baba tell me about Wu-Gang,
the woodcutter. He also lives on the moon.
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Long ago, a selfish woodcutter, Wu-Gang, wished
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to learn the secret of eternal life. He came upon an
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old hermit, who promised to teach him. In return,
Wu-Gang would have to do exactly as the hermit said.
Eager to live forever, Wu-Gang agreed.

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23. But Wu-Gang was a lazy man. Each time the hermit
asked Wu-Gang to complete a task, Wu-Gang would
grow bored or tired and take a nap. Angry, the hermit
revealed his true identity—the Jade Emperor.
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Wu-Gang was scared. He begged for one last chance.
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The Emperor took Wu-Gang to the Jade Palace’s
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garden on the moon. There stood a large cassia tree.
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To live forever, Wu-Gang would have to chop it down.
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The Emperor warned Wu-Gang that if he stopped
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working, even for a moment, he would wither away
and die.
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Wu-Gang laughed at this simple job. He was a
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woodcutter, after all. But with each blow of his axe,
the tree healed itself as though it had never been
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struck. Wu-Gang chopped and chopped, but the tree
would not fall.
To this day, Wu-Gang is on the moon, still chopping
and filling the air with the scent of cinnamon from
the freshly cut cassia tree.

25. I look for Wu-Gang and the tree on the moon.
But I don’t see them. “I think I smell cinnamon,”
I say.
Mama and Baba smile, and Mama tweaks
my nose.
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“Time for tea,” Baba says. He pours hot,
steaming tea for us to drink. Mooncakes and tea
are better than mooncakes alone.
Mama and Baba tell me about Jade Rabbit.
Jade Rabbit lives on the moon too.

27. h
Long ago, three moon magicians wanted to test the
goodness of the animals on earth. The magicians turned
themselves into three poor old men and pretended to
beg for food.
When they asked Fox, he gave them red berries
from his den. When they asked Monkey, she gave them
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guavas pulled down from her tree. But when the moon
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magicians asked Rabbit, he had nothing to give.
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Instead, Rabbit offered himself to the magicians
for them to eat.
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The three moon magicians were so amazed
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by Rabbit’s kindness, they brought him back to
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the moon to live with them.
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Rabbit became known as Jade Rabbit, and he
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still lives on the moon and brings food to those
on earth who need it.

29. I look for Jade Rabbit on the moon, but I don’t
see him. “Does Jade Rabbit bring us mooncakes
and tea too?” I ask, yawning.
Mama and Baba smile and press their cheeks
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against mine.
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31. Eating mooncakes and lighting paper lanterns.
Watching the round pearl moon and winking stars.
Looking for Chang-E, Wu-Gang and Jade Rabbit.
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This is my Moon Festival. I can see Mama and
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Baba and me in the circle of the moon.
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It’s late. Mama and Baba say it’s time to sleep.
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They hug me close. I blow out my lantern, and the
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smoke curls up to the sky.
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“Thank you,” I say to the moon before I go inside.
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From my bedroom window, the moon
watches over me. In my bed, I close my eyes
and dream.

34. Author’s Note
The Chinese Moon Festival falls on the fifteenth day
of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Traditionally,
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it is a time for families to come together and give thanks
for the harvest and family unity. Even relatives who are
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unable to be with their families can look up at the dark
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sky and know that their loved ones are watching the
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same moon.
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