Rice

Illustrated by Hongcheng Yu

“Little grain, may you prosper and bring everyone a bountiful harvest.”

Set in the Hani terraces of Yunnan, China (a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site), this nonfiction book traces the life journey of a single grain. Author/illustrator Hongcheng Yu follows a community of Hani ethnicity through the twenty-four solar terms, the ancient Chinese phenological calendar. From the first seeds sown during “The Rains” in February to the golden harvest ending at “Frost’s Descent” in late October, the story captures the rhythmic patience of traditional agriculture. Yu’s detailed illustrations show the process of grains developing from seeds to rice and document the intricate materiality of farming: the specific rakes, sickles, and containers, the communal labor of neighbors, and the multispecies footprints left in the mud. By the time the family sits down to a bowl of steaming rice, readers have witnessed the energy transformation required to sustain human life.

Rice serves as an exceptional tool for understanding phenology in eastern and southeastern Asia. While modern urban life often treats time as linear, driven by efficiency, this picturebook immerses young readers in cyclical and circular time. In this worldview, human actions synchronize with the position of the sun and the response of the Earth. The book portrays an ethics of land care and labor. In a modern society where mechanization has largely replaced manual labor, Yu suggests that understanding our agricultural past is essential for recognizing the value of what we consume. The dignity of food production is rooted in sweat, community solidarity, and a deep attentiveness to weather patterns. The detailed diagrams of agricultural tools and the scientific breakdown of rice nutrition bridge the gap between cultural tradition and biological science. This makes the complex concept of a food system more approachable for young audiences.

Rice provides a powerful counter-narrative to industrial food production, which often hides the environmental costs of what we eat. By highlighting the labor and seasonal stability required for a successful harvest, the book creates space for discussing how global warming threatens food security and underscores the preciousness of food. Teachers can use this picturebook to introduce traditional ecological knowledge and the concept of relational accountability, which is the idea that we are responsible to the land that feeds us. Students might be encouraged to create their own local phenological maps to track how plants and weather in their own neighborhoods change across the year.

©2026 ClimateLit (Wanqi Shang)

Publisher: Reycraft Books, 2020

Audience: Ages 8-13

ISBN: 9781478869375

Pages: 40

Format: Picturebooks

Topics: Agriculture, Circular Time, Food, Food Insecurity, Food Justice, Global Warming, Indigenous Environmental Practices, Land Care, Weather