The beauty of Hwang’s story lies in its simplicity. By relegating herself to the characters and settings of children’s stories, the author circumvents the many cultural nuances that would otherwise mark her imagination as more identifiably South Korean, opening up this story to readers everywhere. With the farm and surrounding countryside filling in for the world at large, and animals stepping in for archetypes of people, she builds on unifying themes of parenthood, personal ambition and sacrifice that resonate with adults as much as they do with children.