The Wishing Tree by Roseanne Thong

The Wishing Tree by Roseanne Thong

When Ming and his grandmother visit the wishing tree on the Lunar New Year, his wishes always seem to come true. But one year the tree does not help, and Ming alone must make peace with the loss of his grandmother and the spirit of the tree.

An enormous banyan tree with thick, leafy branches grew in the center of a village near an ancient temple in a green valley with a gurgling stream.

Every Lunar New Year, Ming and his grandmother visit the Wishing Tree. Its branches are covered with wishes, each written on red and yellow paper fluttering in the breeze, secured by the weight of an orange.

Grandmother warned Ming to wish carefully, and sure enough, his wishes always seemed to come true. But one year when Ming makes the most important wish of his life, the tree lets him down.

The Wishing Tree is about the excitement of making wishes and waiting for them to come true. It is also about the love between a boy and his grandmother, and the realization that sometimes, we already possess the most important things in life.

Roseanne Thong was born in Southern California but has spent the majority of her life in Asia. She has worked as a journalist and a teacher in addition to being one of Hong Kong's prominent resident authors of children's books, and she currently teaches English at Hong Kong University's School of Continuing and Professional Education. She formerly taught pupils in California, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Vietnam at the primary, secondary, and university levels.