Daughter of the Mountains is a children's novel by Louise Rankin. It tells the story of Momo, a Tibetan girl who undertakes a long and difficult journey to save her little dog Pempai, a Lhasa Terrier from the wool trader who stole him.[1] The novel, illustrated by Kurt Wiese, was first published in 1948 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1949.[2]
- ^ The Newbery & Caldecott Awards by the Association of Library Service for Children, p. 51
- ^ "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present". American Library Association. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
MoMo attends a ceremony at the nearby Buddhist Temple. She sits in the front row at the huge field as she watches the monks dressed up in masks, depicting demons. Her father would always tell shanking MoMo that they were good monks only dressed up with masks.MoMo then looks up to the stage and sees the head monk chanting to relieve the lost sad souls controlled by the demons and beside the monk was a Lhasa Terrier which was considered holy. For the rest of the three-day ceremony, MoMo kept her eyes on nothing but the Lhasa Terrier. After the ceremony, Momo's two younger brothers headed into the temple to be monks. MoMo then asked her Father, "I want a dog ." MoMo's Father replied, "Why, we already have a dog, the one who is big and guards our sheep." "No, Father. I want not that big hairy fierce dog, I want a Lhasa Terrier!" replied MoMo "For goodness gracious, you'll have to wait till your Uncle comes back from Lhasa to give you a Lhasa Terrier!" Then for months, she prayed and one-day MoMo's dream came true. A trader came and stopped by MoMo's house for tea he explained that there is a Lhasa Terrier in their carriage who just lost its mother, and they could not take care of it and they could give it to MoMo. MoMo was overjoyed and agreed immediately.