“Are we on the right path?” asked the rabbit. The boy looked around. “Maybe there is no path. Maybe the path is made simply by walking.”
THE OXHERD BOY
Parables of Love, Compassion, and Community
by Regina Linke
Clarkson Potter, March 2024
Following in the footsteps, hooves and pawprints of the bestselling illustrated inspirational book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse comes Regina Linke’s exquisite fable THE OXHERD BOY.
Largely based on the wisdom of classical Asian philosophy and religion, the story gently cultivates resilience, compassion and humility through the small adventures and conversations of these three friends. As the boy, the rabbit, and the ox (who represent the three core beliefs of classical Chinese thought) wander through the day, meeting villagers, forging rivers, tilling fields, and planting rice, they muse about ways to live mindfully in an often stormy world. Artist and writer Regina Linke’s magnificent paintings are executed in the ancient Chinese technique known as gongbi that uses highly detailed brushstrokes and careful layering of color over fine line drawings to create magical, immersive scenes and emotive, engaging characters.
Regina Linke is a Taiwanese American artist specializing in contemporary Chinese gongbi painting. She writes and illustrates stories that celebrate East Asian folklore and philosophy in an accessible and modern way. Her most notable creation is “The Oxherd Boy,” a single-panel, adult webcomic with a highly engaged audience whose characters volunteers from around the world have translated the comics into ten languages. Regina Linke lives in Taipei, Taiwan with her husband and young son, who inspires her every day as a real-life oxherd boy.
Ross Maloy just wants to be a normal seventh grader. He doesn’t want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don’t know what to say to « the cancer kid. » But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, blending in is off the table.
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