Mr. Chow's Night Market

By: Emily Sun Li

Published by Penguin Group, 2026-04-14

Perfect for fans of Spirited Away and Domee Shi's Pixar short Bao, this humorous picture book tells the fantastical tale of one grumpy old man and the creation of Taiwan's first night market. Mr. Chow lives for the night, when the moon is a wok full of simmering oil. Too bad he owns a supermarket and has to wake up very, very early. Mr. Chow hates mornings and so does his store: The shopping carts are sluggish, the front door yawns, and the pomelos roll down the aisle in a sleepy daze. When disaster strikes, Mr. Chow seeks advice from other workers and the similarly buoyant, anthropromophic buildings they work in. And soon, he discovers that his store doesn't have to be a morning market...it can be a night market! Accompanied by spellbinding art from Yu Ting Cheng, debut author Emily Sun Li crafts a whimsical myth about how the very first Taiwanese night market was created.