The title of the book is derived from a fairy tale in which the carved figure of an unusual looking man on a cupboard door fell in love with a pretty little china hepherdess who loved a little chimney-sweep china figure that stood beside her. The carved figure asked the figure of a Chinaman who could nod his head and claimed to be the grandfather of the shepherdess if he could marry her. When the "grandfather" nodded his head in consent, the couple tried to flee the area by going through the stove and up the chimney to get into the outside world.
