Of Nightingales That Weep Award from the Children's Literature Association as the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. The award is named after the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity. Set during the Genpei War, the two rival Japanese clans, the Genji and Heike, are constantly battling for the support of the Senior Cloistered Emperor and the power to rule Japan. Takiko is a beautiful girl who can talentedly play the koto, a thirteen-stringed instrument. She is only eleven years old
Bi Fang bird Bi Fang bird The Bi Fang (畢方) is a mythological bird, encountered in Chinese mythology. The Bi Fang is thought to have one leg. The importance of the Bi Fang bird is that it is one of the creatures of Chinese mythology. However, sources vary in terms of its description. Han Fei dates back to the third century BCE.The Bi Fang bird is described by Han Fei, in his work "Hanfeizi". According to the "Hanfeizi" the Bi Fang is an auspicious bird which was a companion to Huangdi (the "Yellow Emperor") (Strassberg 2002, 110). The "Shanhaijing" also known as the