The House of Sixty Fathers, by Meindert DeJong

This children's book tells the tale of young Tien Pao. He lives with his parents and baby sister at the time that China is being invaded by the Japanese army. When his village is attacked and burned to the ground, his family is able to escape in a sampan with a few ducklings in a pan and their piglet. The adults take turns rowing against the tide of the river for several days until they reach the village of Hengyang.

Not far from the village, a massive airfield is being built for the American army. Tien Pao's parents go there to find work, leaving him in the boat with the piglet and the ducklings. One day, an American soldier come to the bank of the river looking for a boat to ferry him across. Since Tien Pao is the only person not screaming and vying for the job, the soldier chooses his boat to be his ferry. Tien Pao has been told by his parents that he must not leave the riverbank, because the rushing river would carry him right back into the arms of the Japanese. But the soldier's blond hair and blue eyes make Tien Pao think that he is a river god, and a neighbor convinces him that he *must* carry the soldier. He ends up being too weak to cross the river, but the soldier helps him row the boat, and back to the bank after his errand is complete. Tien Pao's parents are furious when they return in the pouring rain to find their son and boat missing, but forgive him when he explains (and hands over the very generous pay that the soldier provided).

Not many days afterward, wallowing water buffalo upset the sampan and loosen it from its moorings while Tien Pao is waiting for his parents to return from work, and he doesn't realize it until he's nearly back where they began. The remainder of the book chronicles his long, hungry journey back to Hengyang to try to find his parents again, staying just one step ahead of the Japanese army as it presses inland. He does eventually re-encounter the American soldier and receives assistance from his unit (the titular sixty fathers). The portion of the book Tien Pao spends in the soldiers' camp is surprisingly short. Especially disappointing when you've read the rear bookflap:

What? WHAT?? This is the story that I want to hear! Tell me more about this! Alas, there is nothing more to be known. I hope that poor little guy is alright.