The Magnificent Banyan and the Green Tong Lau - Hardcover

Sy, Stephanie Ellen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593858441 ISBN 13: 9780593858448

Publisher: Kokila, 2026

Synopsis

A modern fable beautifully illustrated in watercolor about the residents of a Hong Kong apartment whose lives are seemingly disrupted by a hardy banyan tree that begins to grow on the building''s walls.

There once was a bird that dropped a seed into a crack in a green tong lau. Nobody noticed, not even when a spindly root sprouted from the wall and curled past The Grandpa playing mahjong on his balcony, The Aunties belting Chinese opera, The Grandma lighting incense at her altar, The Uncles hanging roast goose in their ground-floor shop window, and children playing about. The banyan tree grew and grew until one day, everyone noticed.

With luminous watercolors by Ishita Jain, this modern fable set in Hong Kong from Stephanie Ellen Sy tells the story of a resilient banyan tree and how one community comes to recognize its many gifts.

About this title

About the Author

Stephanie Ellen Sy is the author of A Roof!, You Can’t Tame a Tiger, Jia Has a Dog Problem, and The Magnificent Banyan Tree and the Green Tong Lau. Like the banyan tree that grows from a tiny seed on a city wall, she has learned to thrive in the places she’s called home—from the Philippines to Hong Kong, from a boarding school in the tiny town of Deerfield, MA, to Florence, Italy, where she arrived without speaking the language. She now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, writing stories about the quiet magic of belonging and community. Learn more at StephanieEllenSy.com.

Ishita Jain is an illustrator and designer based in NYC, though she is from New Delhi, India. She is the illustrator of Midnight Motorbike, The Magnificent Banyan Tree and the Green Tong Lau, and several other books. She draws on location and documents the people, places, and stories that surround her. She loves to go on long walks, stare at massive trees, and draw outdoors. See more of her work at IshitaJain.in.

Edition details

• Publisher: Kokila
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593858441
• ISBN 13: 9780593858448
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Jain Ishita
• Number of pages: 40