Ming the Panda

A young child who can’t sleep asks his mother to tell him about her childhood in China and the animals she saw there. Did she see a panda? Although she didn’t see any pandas, she tells him the true story of a famous panda called Ming instead. Ming was captured as a cub in 1938 and transported to the UK where she was the first panda to be held in captivity in London Zoo. The panda’s short life in the zoo is described and also the joy and wonder she brought to Londoners in the build-up to the Second World War. The sadness of her death is described with compassion. The back of the book contains additional information which helps to fill out any gaps in the story.

This is an interesting and sensitive picture book which may prompt conversations about pandas, endangered species, the ethics of keeping animals in captivity and the work zoos do to promote conservation.

The illustrations are excellent, not only evoking the ever-appealing pandas themselves but also the delicacy and beauty of the Chinese rural landscape in contrast to wartime London.