Summary
‘This is your one chance. You have your secret dreams. Follow them! Make them come true!’
A moving and inspirational story based on the author’s life that delights the young and the old, again and again.
This true story of a poor Chinese peasant boy, who at the age of ten was plucked unsuspectingly from millions of others across the land to be trained as a ballet dancer, is a fairytale that has captivated children and adults alike. Li tells his story with disarming simplicity …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780143503118 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0143503111 |
| Author: | Li Cunxin |
| Publisher: | Penguin Putnam Inc |
| Imprint: | Puffin |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 40 |
| Release Date: | 3 July 2017 |
| Weight: | 264g |
| Dimensions: | 9mm x 288mm x 234mm |
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About The Author
Li Cunxin
Li Cunxin (Author)
Li Cunxin AO was born in communist China in 1961, the sixth of seven sons in a poor rural family. His life under Chairman Mao’s regime changed dramatically when, at the age of eleven, he was chosen to become a student at the Beijing Dance Academy. Li went on to become one of the finest male dancers in the world, and was principal dancer at Houston Ballet and the Australian Ballet. From 2012 until the end of 2023 he was artistic director at Queensland Ballet, and in 2025 he was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the Prix de Lausanne for his outstanding contribution to the arts and dance.
Li’s memoir, Mao’s Last Dancer, is one of the most successful autobiographies of all time. It was published around the world and has been adapted into a young readers’ edition, a picture book, a stage play and a major motion picture. Li lives with his wife, Mary, in Brisbane. He continues to contribute to the world of ballet and to Australia’s cultural life.
Anne Spudvilas (Illustrator)
Anne Spudvilas is one of Australia’s foremost picture book illustrators and is an established artist. She divides her time between commissioned portraits, her work as a courtroom artist, and her award-winning illustrations for children’s books.
Her first picture book, The Race by Christobel Mattingley, won the Crichton Award for Illustration and was an Honour Book in the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Awards in 1996. Anne has produced many award-winning picture books, including Jenny Angel by Margaret Wild, winner of the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award, 2000, and Woolvs in the Sitee by Margaret Wild, shortlisted for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award, 2007 and joint winner in the Children’s Short Story category of the 2006 Aurealis Awards.
Anne also illustrated The Peasant Prince, the picture book based on Li Cunxin’s international best-selling autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer - now a hugely successful motion picture. Anne travelled to China with Li to visit his home town of Qingdao and to meet his family, gathering valuable background material for the book. She has illustrated several chapter books in the Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Bites series and more recently collaborated with Isobelle Carmody to produce the beautiful and haunting The Night School.
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