My Favorite Book (1) I haven't read a lot of books, but among those I have read, many have had a great influence on me. They enriched me, they inspired me, and in a way they shaped me. It is hard to pick a favorite one, but if I had to, I would choose a book I read when I was a child. It is a collection of stories written by children's literature writers from around the world. These stories might look naive and childish to some adults, but as a child, they opened my eyes and my mind. Some of them made me laugh, some of them made me cry. Some of them took me to the most bizarre places, and some of them led me to understand the world we live in. For example, there's this Japanese story that I still remember clearly today. It's a story about a little boy who lives in a village with his grandma. The boy sleeps a lot, eats a lot, and is incredibly strong. Kids in the village call him "son of the dragon". His grandma often tells him that his mother passed away after he was born. One night, the boy is missing his mother again, grandma decided to tell him the truth. His mother is not dead. She disappeared mysteriously one day when she was pregnant with the boy. Several day later, the boy was found in a basket floating near the river bank by his grandma, along with him was a pearl like white ball he was sucking on and a note. It turned out his mother disappeared because she was turned into a dragon. When she was pregnant, she was one day left alone in the kitchen to cook for the villagers. Being pregnant and not able to control her appetite, she stole and ate the fish in the kitchen, the only few the villagers had got. She did not know a curse had been put on her. Anyone who steals from the community will be punished and turned into a dragon. Then her baby son was born. She knew she couldn’t feed and look after him anymore, so she put the baby in a basket, set it on the river to float, and then she took her eyes out to let him suck on and give him the nutrition he needs. Not willing to be been seen as a monster, she moved away to the north and never came back.