The Big Wave is a children's novel by Pearl S. Buck, first published as a short story in the October 1947 issue of the magazine Jack and Jill with illustrations from Ann Eshner Jaffe.

[1] Buck expanded the story and published it in book form in 1948 through John Day Company, with illustrations from Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai.

Though everyone in the area has heard of the big wave no one suspects that when the next one comes, it will wipe out Jiya's entire family and fishing village below the mountain.

When Jiya tells Kino that he wishes to marry Setsu and return to the fishing village, Kino fears that Jiya and Setsu will suffer and it is safer for them to remain on the mountain as a farmer, thinking of the potential consequences should another big wave come.

Pearl S. Buck worked with Tad Danielewski to develop the script for television (1956), and the show played successfully to critics.