Pre-order the book The Starfruit Tree – The Sequel – Published 03/2025

As an installment in Trao Publishing's Fairy Tale Universe series, The Starfruit Tree – Sequel is expected to be a grand work with many new twists compared to the original. Are you curious about what happens to the older brother after falling into the sea with a bag of gold? Does the younger sibling go looking for the older brother? How will the younger sibling's life unfold after becoming wealthy?

All answers to these questions will be revealed in this book. The book is also fully illustrated with watercolors, a meticulous effort by the authors. This part of the story will certainly not disappoint you. The book will also be published with other unique and creative accessories.

You can pre-order the book starting now. We will deliver the books to you in September, 2024.

• Genre: Illustrated Story
• Number of pages: 80 pages
• Dimensions: 25 x 25 cm
• Author: Luong Ngoc Duc 
• Illustration: Ngan Nguyen 
• Graphic Design: Trinh Anh
• Manuscript completion year: 2022
• Publication year: 2025
• Origin: Vietnam

Summary of the Starfruit Tree Story: 

Once upon a time, there were two brothers whose parents passed away early. After getting married, the elder brother didn't want to live with his younger brother anymore, so he decided to divide the inheritance. The greedy elder brother took all the house, fields, buffaloes, and cattle left by their parents, leaving the younger brother with only a small hut and a garden containing a sweet starfruit tree. The younger brother didn't complain, diligently tending to the starfruit tree every day and working as a hired hand to support himself.

That year, the starfruit tree in the younger brother's garden miraculously bore an abundance of unusually sweet, golden-ripe fruit on every branch. The younger brother looked at the tree, secretly overjoyed, planning to sell the starfruit to buy rice.
One day, a precious bird flew in from somewhere and began to peck at the starfruit incessantly. Seeing this, the younger brother picked up a stick to chase the bird away and said, "Hey bird! This is my only starfruit tree. I've worked hard to care for it until harvest day. If you eat it all, I'll have nothing to sell to buy rice. So if you want to eat, bring me something valuable in return."

The bird, still eating, replied, "Eat one fruit, pay a lump of gold. Sew a three-span bag and carry it to hold the gold." The younger brother, hearing the bird, reluctantly allowed it to continue eating. A few days later, the bird returned to eat starfruit again. After finishing, the bird told the younger brother to take his three-span bag to collect gold. The younger brother ran into the house, grabbed the already sewn three-span bag, and climbed onto the bird's back.

The bird flew on and on, over high mountains, across vast oceans, and landed on an island full of gold, silver, and jewels. The younger brother walked all over the island, gazing to his heart's content, then filled his three-span bag with gold. The precious bird told him to take more, but the younger brother refused. When he was done, the younger brother climbed onto the bird's back and returned home.

From then on, the younger brother became wealthy, and he used his rice, gold, and silver to help the poor. The elder brother, hearing of his brother's wealth, came to visit and demanded to exchange his house and fields for the sweet starfruit tree, which the younger brother agreed to. So, the elder brother moved into the younger brother's house. The following season, the starfruit tree again bore abundant fruit, and the precious bird returned to eat. The elder brother pretended to cry, and the bird then said, "Eat one fruit, pay a lump of gold. Sew a three-span bag and carry it to hold the gold."

Overjoyed, the elder brother urged his wife to sew a bag, not three spans, but twelve spans, to hold more gold. The next day, the precious bird took the elder brother to collect gold. As soon as they arrived, the elder brother hurriedly grabbed gold and shoved it into his bag, and even stuffed more gold onto himself. The bird tried its best to fly, but the journey was long and the gold was too much, making it too heavy. Several times the bird told the elder brother to throw away some gold to lighten the load, but the elder brother stubbornly clutched his bag. When it could no longer bear the weight, the bird tilted its wing, and the greedy elder brother fell into the sea.