Little Hero
  • Published: 1 October 2024
  • ISBN: 9789815162073
  • Imprint: PRH SEA
  • Format: Paperback
  • RRP: $17.99

Little Hero

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A moving story of one boy’s growing-up years in post-war 1940s Singapore as he grapples with separation, loss and what it truly means to be a hero.

Seven-year-old Ying Xiong looks forward to a better life in post-war Singapore after the Japanese troops’ surrender in September 1945.

However, a new war erupts at home when Xiong’s father decides to return to his homeland in China. This tears the family apart when he takes Xiong’s two elder brothers back with him, whilst Xiong and his mother remain in Singapore.

Xiong navigates his childhood years alone in a poor neighbourhood as his mother ekes out a livelihood for them. He makes a friend in Kampung Silat, follows a fearsome teenage gangster in Silat Road and gets to know a brave police inspector who becomes his neighbour. Through all this, Xiong comes to realise what it takes to be a hero, which is also the meaning of his name Ying Xiong.

Little Hero is a touching work of historical fiction inspired by real-life events from the childhood years of the author's father in post-war 1940s Singapore. It includes an afterword by the author on what happened to her grandparents and extended family after post-war events divided them into two homelands, Singapore and China.
  • Published: 1 October 2024
  • ISBN: 9789815162073
  • Imprint: PRH SEA
  • Format: Paperback
  • RRP: $17.99
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About the author

Emily Lim-Leh

Emily Lim-Leh lost her voice to a rare voice affliction Spasmodic Dysphonia in 1998. In her journey to recover her lost voice, she found a new God-given voice in writing when she emerged a winner in Singapore Book Council’s first-time writers’ competition in 2007. She wrote her debut picture book Prince Bear & Pauper Bear, followed by Three more Toy titles.

Her Toys series has since been translated into four languages and published in six countries.

Emily is now an award-winning author of over forty children’s picture books. She is the first outside North America to win three IPPY Awards for children’s books. She is also a three-time winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and the first in Southeast Asia to win the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.

Emily was named Mediacorp’s Singapore Woman Award Honoree for inspiring readers through her books. She’s also a recipient of the Covid-19 Public Service Medal (from the Prime Minister’s Office in Singapore) for her voluntary collaboration with private and public healthcare professionals to produce informational e-books for the community during Singapore’s Covid fight.

Little Hero is Emily’s first adventure in writing a children’s chapter book. This story was inspired by her interviews with her father on his colourful childhood when they both stayed at home through the months when Covid-19 was raging. She’s delighted that her family’s story is taking form as a children’s book.

Emily blogs about books and parenting her son (and her muse) at her blog https://mummumstheword.wordpress.com/