In Baba’s Peach Tree, Marie Tang writes a sensitive and gentle story about the loving family of Tao Hua and her father, Baba, who lived in rural China. Baba worked very hard and Tao Hua studied hard too. Her father worked in the evening and sometimes went away on a night job though Tao Hua did not like her father being gone. Seo Kim’s illustrations show the beauty and hardship of living where the sun shined, but the work was difficult.
They have a peach tree that grew behind their home. Baba nurtured the tree since it was young watering and watching over the lovely plant. Like Tao Hua, the peach tree continued to grow as she attended school and learned her lessons. For both Tao Hua and Baba “there was always work to do.” In the spring lovely red and pink blossoms filled the peach tree. Later in the summer, Baba sold peaches and said “Come, come! Buy one, taste the sun.” But he always saved the most beautiful peach for Tao Hua. Each day, she would eat the yummy peach and plant the seed out in the yard.
Baba got a chance to move to the Big City where he got an iron rice bowl, which is a regular job. Baba and Tao Hua lived in an apartment building where there was no peach sun. They both worked hard in the Big City. When Tao Hua grew up and her father grew old, she took him back to their old stone house. They saw a beautiful orchard of peach blossoms from the many trees which grew in the meadow.
The story is about the hard work of immigrants who bring their dreams and perseverance to the new lands they make home.
