What do you think?
Rate this book
The Story of a Little Nomad: True story of a Mongolian nomad family
About the uplifting story of Oyu, a young Mongol nomad girl. A simple story that will relax your mind and soothe your soul will give you and your family a true understanding of the nomadic families residing in Mongolia's vast countryside and give you the opportunity to indirectly experience their unique way of life.
Oyu is a seven-year-old girl with blue eyes and blonde hair who has an eye for livestock, enjoys horseback riding, and dreams big. This book will take you on an adventure with this little nomad girl throughout the year, from summer to autumn, winter to spring, and how she learns from life.
She had no idea that, while she helped her grandparents in their countryside home and took on the duties of daily chores and errands, her careful observation of the mountains, trees, springs, and rivers in the area, as well as her wonders at the snow, rain, thunder, and rainbows while she run across the field chasing butterflies was cultivating warmth and kindness in her heart.
When she milks a cow, she always wanted to leave more milk for the calf, and when she rode a horse and galloped like the free wind across the valley, she would mindfully remember her father's to slow down the horse from distance when you reach the hitching post, otherwise the horse legs will swell from sudden stop after the gallop.
When children pretend play as a family, she would become a horse trainer and train stone horses while also caring for the livestock. In such way, these small but significant actions shaped the girls' personalities.
The storyline focuses on the life of little nomad Oyu in one year, from summer 1973 to spring 1974, in Mungunmorit soum, Tuv province, Mongolia.
Readers'
"It's a simple book about two little girls and their daily routine throughout the year. However, if read carefully, the book answers the question "Who are Mongolians?". This is the book that will make you hear the horse neighing, the cow mooing, the sheep bleating, smell the summer grass, and taste freshly made mouth-watering cream."
- Battulga P. photographer, initiator of "Egel" project,
***
"I'll never forget the Naadam Festival chapter. It instantly transported me back to my childhood, and I relived all of the excitement. With this little girl's adventure, you can feel and even smell everything"
- Nasantsengel B. artist, portrait master
***
"The true nomad Mongolian spirit, unique lifestyle in the countryside, love between parents and children, and children's pure heart and soul were all beautifully and simply displayed. There were a few touching moments that brought me to tears. The little girl's beloved Star Fawn horse is undoubtedly one of the book's main characters."
- Ragchaa.J, Mongolian National TB broadcaster and State Honored Artist
***
"This book allows the reader to experience Mongolian traditions and upbringing through the eyes of a child. It allows you to really feel the countryside and all its beauty."
- Dustin Rawlins editor, reader
Oyu is a seven-year-old girl with blue eyes and blonde hair who has an eye for livestock, enjoys horseback riding, and dreams big. This book will take you on an adventure with this little nomad girl throughout the year, from summer to autumn, winter to spring, and how she learns from life.
She had no idea that, while she helped her grandparents in their countryside home and took on the duties of daily chores and errands, her careful observation of the mountains, trees, springs, and rivers in the area, as well as her wonders at the snow, rain, thunder, and rainbows while she run across the field chasing butterflies was cultivating warmth and kindness in her heart.
When she milks a cow, she always wanted to leave more milk for the calf, and when she rode a horse and galloped like the free wind across the valley, she would mindfully remember her father's to slow down the horse from distance when you reach the hitching post, otherwise the horse legs will swell from sudden stop after the gallop.
When children pretend play as a family, she would become a horse trainer and train stone horses while also caring for the livestock. In such way, these small but significant actions shaped the girls' personalities.
The storyline focuses on the life of little nomad Oyu in one year, from summer 1973 to spring 1974, in Mungunmorit soum, Tuv province, Mongolia.
Readers'
"It's a simple book about two little girls and their daily routine throughout the year. However, if read carefully, the book answers the question "Who are Mongolians?". This is the book that will make you hear the horse neighing, the cow mooing, the sheep bleating, smell the summer grass, and taste freshly made mouth-watering cream."
- Battulga P. photographer, initiator of "Egel" project,
***
"I'll never forget the Naadam Festival chapter. It instantly transported me back to my childhood, and I relived all of the excitement. With this little girl's adventure, you can feel and even smell everything"
- Nasantsengel B. artist, portrait master
***
"The true nomad Mongolian spirit, unique lifestyle in the countryside, love between parents and children, and children's pure heart and soul were all beautifully and simply displayed. There were a few touching moments that brought me to tears. The little girl's beloved Star Fawn horse is undoubtedly one of the book's main characters."
- Ragchaa.J, Mongolian National TB broadcaster and State Honored Artist
***
"This book allows the reader to experience Mongolian traditions and upbringing through the eyes of a child. It allows you to really feel the countryside and all its beauty."
- Dustin Rawlins editor, reader
224 pages, Paperback
Published February 18, 2023
6 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 13, 2025
Membaca kisah dari negara asing memang memberikan banyak pelajaran baharu. Terjemahan buku The Story of a Little Nomad karya Oyunjargal Renchin yang merupakan sebahagian kisah benar penulis ini. Nomad Cilik membawakan kisah dari Mongolia, tentang seorang gadis kecil, Oyu yang tinggal bersama-sama nenek dan datuknya, mengharungi rutin dan budaya masyarakat Mongolia termasuk berpindah tempat tinggal mengikut musim, menternak haiwan peliaharaan dan menjinakkan kuda. Kisah saga kehidupan gadis ini memberikan gambaran sebenar budaya masyarakat Mongolia yang kaya dengan keunikan tersendiri - makanan, aktiviti harian dan kekeluargaan.
October 19, 2024
The Story of a Little Nomad is a great collection of Oyo (the author's) last year living the nomadic life before she completed her education and eventually made a name in journalism as a career.
I picked up this book at the Ulaanbataar Book Fair and the author's daughter signed it for me; and for that gesture I am eternally grateful, thank you so much 😊.
The book captures the quintessential question in Asia that we all have: the conflict of tradition and modernity, and why should modernity be seen as anti-tradition?
I wholeheartedly wish I would learn to read Mongolian to enjoy the book more authentically. However, I would still be learning it in the Cyrilic alphabet, and I think that does a grave injustice to the Khudam script. If Arabs can have texting done from right to left, Mongolians, Manchurians, Turkmens and Japanese can have their texting done top to bottom too; for the sake of authenticity!
The book captures the life of the Mongolian countryside well, and it comes through even in the translation. The perspective is strictly from the innocent eyes of a 6 year old. However, socio-political conversations do come through, such as how to deal with modernity, renaming and co-opting culture by Marxist forces (like renaming the White Horse Festival into a festival about Unions), or how festivals were changing.
The grander problem in Asia is that culture is both being lost and being commodified at the same time. Where earlier Mongolian people lived the way they did by default, today half of Mongolia lives in Ulaanbataar and the culture is mostly for tourists more, along with service sector jobs, agriculture (which was alien to Mongolia before), metal extraction and others. While modern Mongolians have rightfully found a balance between tradition and modernity by dividing their year into two halves of 6 months each, there is no permanent answer to the dichotomy. Maybe, through the internet, the idea of a mobile city; where the city is stationary but the people are mobile, could emerge as an interesting alternative. The future is interesting.
These problems are relatable to the rest of Asia too; Japan is too commodified, Korea is too consumerist, China is too state-driven and this allows them to co-opt Chinese culture, and India is not centralised enough so the west can brainwash the society into social changes. Modernity poses challenge to all of Asia, and the people have to be as authentic as they can instead of merely "looking the part".
The book really reflects these challenges without pushing them on the reader. And it brings a feeling of relatability to me as a Bharatiya due to this. The book is a political book at all, I have to specify. But it has the underlying environment to inform what the story is. The retrospect is very powerful.
I would love to read about the future of Mongolia; how would the Tengri religion fit into the Mongolian future? Would the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan prevail over Buddhism and Christianity? Would the Mongols reclaim their land from Russia and China? Will we see the Khadam script come back ever? Only time will tell. But this book has the underlying narrative.
I really enjoyed this book from cover to cover! Would love to re-read this in the original script too. I am eternally grateful for the signed copy I got. I hope the author reads this as well. Thank you for the kind gesture. Thank you so much.
8/10
I picked up this book at the Ulaanbataar Book Fair and the author's daughter signed it for me; and for that gesture I am eternally grateful, thank you so much 😊.
The book captures the quintessential question in Asia that we all have: the conflict of tradition and modernity, and why should modernity be seen as anti-tradition?
I wholeheartedly wish I would learn to read Mongolian to enjoy the book more authentically. However, I would still be learning it in the Cyrilic alphabet, and I think that does a grave injustice to the Khudam script. If Arabs can have texting done from right to left, Mongolians, Manchurians, Turkmens and Japanese can have their texting done top to bottom too; for the sake of authenticity!
The book captures the life of the Mongolian countryside well, and it comes through even in the translation. The perspective is strictly from the innocent eyes of a 6 year old. However, socio-political conversations do come through, such as how to deal with modernity, renaming and co-opting culture by Marxist forces (like renaming the White Horse Festival into a festival about Unions), or how festivals were changing.
The grander problem in Asia is that culture is both being lost and being commodified at the same time. Where earlier Mongolian people lived the way they did by default, today half of Mongolia lives in Ulaanbataar and the culture is mostly for tourists more, along with service sector jobs, agriculture (which was alien to Mongolia before), metal extraction and others. While modern Mongolians have rightfully found a balance between tradition and modernity by dividing their year into two halves of 6 months each, there is no permanent answer to the dichotomy. Maybe, through the internet, the idea of a mobile city; where the city is stationary but the people are mobile, could emerge as an interesting alternative. The future is interesting.
These problems are relatable to the rest of Asia too; Japan is too commodified, Korea is too consumerist, China is too state-driven and this allows them to co-opt Chinese culture, and India is not centralised enough so the west can brainwash the society into social changes. Modernity poses challenge to all of Asia, and the people have to be as authentic as they can instead of merely "looking the part".
The book really reflects these challenges without pushing them on the reader. And it brings a feeling of relatability to me as a Bharatiya due to this. The book is a political book at all, I have to specify. But it has the underlying environment to inform what the story is. The retrospect is very powerful.
I would love to read about the future of Mongolia; how would the Tengri religion fit into the Mongolian future? Would the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan prevail over Buddhism and Christianity? Would the Mongols reclaim their land from Russia and China? Will we see the Khadam script come back ever? Only time will tell. But this book has the underlying narrative.
I really enjoyed this book from cover to cover! Would love to re-read this in the original script too. I am eternally grateful for the signed copy I got. I hope the author reads this as well. Thank you for the kind gesture. Thank you so much.
8/10
June 1, 2024
Probably more of 3- 3.5
I did enjoy it more as I recently visited Mongolia and had the opportunity to go to the countryside and spend an afternoon with a nomad family . The stories in the book reminded me what the nomad family was telling me .
Otherwise if i wouldn’t have had that experience I think the writing is at time monotonous..
I did enjoy it more as I recently visited Mongolia and had the opportunity to go to the countryside and spend an afternoon with a nomad family . The stories in the book reminded me what the nomad family was telling me .
Otherwise if i wouldn’t have had that experience I think the writing is at time monotonous..
July 15, 2024
Beautiful true story/memoir, acting as an ethnographic tale of Mongolian nomad and the buryat minority, told from the perspective of a seven years old in a "slice of life" approach. The english translation would gain a lot from a thorough editing (a lot of typos, awkward sentences and word choices, etc.), but this doesn't take anything away from the spirit and values the book conveys.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews