Uploaded January 2015 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This is a quick book summary of When the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. This channel discusses and reviews books, novels, and short stories through drawing...poorly.
Transcript: This is a story about a girl named Minli who lives in the poor Chinese countryside with her father and mother. They all work in the rice fields each day and barely have enough food to survive. What encourages Minli are her father’s stories, which go into the mythology of the area, Fruitless Mountain.
Minli wishes for fortune and spends half of her money on a goldfish from a traveling salesman. However, because the family cannot afford to feed the fish, Minli releases it in a nearby stream. Unbeknownst to Minli, the fish is magical, which prompts the fish to tell Minli where to travel to meet the Old Man of the Moon, a mythical and all-knowing figure from one of her father’s stories, for the answers as to how Fruitless Mountain can be prosperous. As a result, Minli decides to leave.
During her journey, Minli meets a dragon who is tied up. Minli helps the dragon and they travel together to a city so that Minli can talk to the king.
In the city, Minli meets a boy with an ox who lives in a broken down shack. While there, the boy is visited by his friend, a beautiful young girl, who tells him that the king will be in the marketplace the following day. Minli waits in the marketplace and instead of seeing a king, she sees an old beggar who wants a peach. She gives the beggar a peach and he is grateful. She follows the old beggar, who turns out to be the king in disguise.
Minli eats dinner with the king and she shares that she is looking for an artifact. The king gives her a piece of paper and she is grateful. Meanwhile, Minli’s parents have returned home to await her return.
Minli and the dragon continue on their way and see a glowing village in the distance. The weather is too cold for them to travel, so they find shelter in a cave to rest. Minli is then attacked by a large Green Tiger, but the dragon saves her. However, the dragon is poisoned by his wounds.
Minli tries to get help, but is then approached by the Green Tiger. However, a boy and girl save her by tricking the Green Tiger into jumping into a well.
The boy and girl are from the glowing village and they soon get help to heal the dragon with magical tea. After resting, Minli and the dragon continue on their journey to the Old Man of the Moon.
When they arrive at the mountain of the Old Man of the Moon, Minli builds a kite and the string constructs a bridge. She can cross the bridge, but the dragon must stay behind.
Minli eventually gets to the end of the bridge and meets the Old Man of the Moon. She is only able to ask one question and decides to ask the dragon’s question instead of her own.
When Minli returns to the dragon, she tells him that the reason he can’t fly is because he has a large stone on his head. Once he removes the stone from his head, he is able to fly Minli back home.
In the end, Minli’s mother realizes that she is blessed for what they have, Fruitless Mountain becomes fertile, and everyone in the village becomes wealthy due to Minli’s generosity.
Facebook Page - facebook.com/pages/Minute-Book-Reports/1148331925195691
Paper by Fifty Three was used to make this video.
Music: "Side Path" from Youtube Audio Library.
This is a quick book summary of When the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. This channel discusses and reviews books, novels, and short stories through drawing...poorly.
Transcript: This is a story about a girl named Minli who lives in the poor Chinese countryside with her father and mother. They all work in the rice fields each day and barely have enough food to survive. What encourages Minli are her father’s stories, which go into the mythology of the area, Fruitless Mountain.
Minli wishes for fortune and spends half of her money on a goldfish from a traveling salesman. However, because the family cannot afford to feed the fish, Minli releases it in a nearby stream. Unbeknownst to Minli, the fish is magical, which prompts the fish to tell Minli where to travel to meet the Old Man of the Moon, a mythical and all-knowing figure from one of her father’s stories, for the answers as to how Fruitless Mountain can be prosperous. As a result, Minli decides to leave.
During her journey, Minli meets a dragon who is tied up. Minli helps the dragon and they travel together to a city so that Minli can talk to the king.
In the city, Minli meets a boy with an ox who lives in a broken down shack. While there, the boy is visited by his friend, a beautiful young girl, who tells him that the king will be in the marketplace the following day. Minli waits in the marketplace and instead of seeing a king, she sees an old beggar who wants a peach. She gives the beggar a peach and he is grateful. She follows the old beggar, who turns out to be the king in disguise.
Minli eats dinner with the king and she shares that she is looking for an artifact. The king gives her a piece of paper and she is grateful. Meanwhile, Minli’s parents have returned home to await her return.
Minli and the dragon continue on their way and see a glowing village in the distance. The weather is too cold for them to travel, so they find shelter in a cave to rest. Minli is then attacked by a large Green Tiger, but the dragon saves her. However, the dragon is poisoned by his wounds.
Minli tries to get help, but is then approached by the Green Tiger. However, a boy and girl save her by tricking the Green Tiger into jumping into a well.
The boy and girl are from the glowing village and they soon get help to heal the dragon with magical tea. After resting, Minli and the dragon continue on their journey to the Old Man of the Moon.
When they arrive at the mountain of the Old Man of the Moon, Minli builds a kite and the string constructs a bridge. She can cross the bridge, but the dragon must stay behind.
Minli eventually gets to the end of the bridge and meets the Old Man of the Moon. She is only able to ask one question and decides to ask the dragon’s question instead of her own.
When Minli returns to the dragon, she tells him that the reason he can’t fly is because he has a large stone on his head. Once he removes the stone from his head, he is able to fly Minli back home.
In the end, Minli’s mother realizes that she is blessed for what they have, Fruitless Mountain becomes fertile, and everyone in the village becomes wealthy due to Minli’s generosity.
Facebook Page - facebook.com/pages/Minute-Book-Reports/1148331925195691
Paper by Fifty Three was used to make this video.
Music: "Side Path" from Youtube Audio Library.
