Overthinking Chinese Themed Children’s Books

We love We’re Riding on a Caravan. How can we not? It’s the story of a Chinese family who set out from Xi’an (where we were to adopt Lydia, the capital of her home province) in Shaanxi Province and journey along the silk road across China to sell, buy, and trade. It really belongs in the nonfiction category, but since it reads like a fiction book, I put it here. The illustrations are fantastic–even as you first open the cover. And, the sing songy verse that tell about the family’s journey and teach about the silk road (with mentions of Xi’an, Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Hami, Turpan, and Kashgar) make this a favorite in our house. Also includes the story of silk, the history of the silk road, and a little blurb about each city mentioned. If you have a child from one of those places, this is a must have. And, if you don’t, your child (and you) will still love reading this one and learning about a very important part of China’s history. Love the stuff Barefoot Books puts out.

Prolific children’s book author Jan Brett won me over again with Daisy Comes Home. With intricate illustrations (reminding me of her book The Mitten), a little girl named Mei Mei in the Li River region of Southern China takes good care of her brood of chickens. One, however, gets lost and ends up in a fisherman’s basket to be sold at market. My children find themselves cheering for Mei Mei and Daisy who work together to come back home together. A great little adventure story about love and relentless friendship, and a great opener to talking to your children about how much you love each and every one of them and would follow them to the ends of the earth to bring them home to you.

Also from Barefoot Books, one of our favorite publishers, Lin Yi’s Lantern is a fave. Lin Yi’s mother sends him to market for several specific items in preparation for the Moon Festival. When faced with the decision to buy peanuts as a gift for his uncle or the rabbit lantern he really wants, he makes the hard choice and buys the peanuts only to be given the lantern as a gift later that night. It’s a nice one to go with the message that when you make sacrifices and put others ahead of you, God blesses you in ways you do not expect. The book also includes at the end the legend behind the Moon Festival, directions on how to make a paper Chinese lantern, and a description of Chinese markets. Get on the waiting list on Amazon for the paperback version of this one.

Though this is a true story, it reads like fiction. In Ruby’s Wish, Shirin Yim Bridges tells the story of a bright and independent little girl growing up in a house of 100 children. But, this little girl stands out in a crowd and writes a poem about how hard it is to grow up as a girl where boys are privileged. When questioned by her grandfather, the patriarch, she makes her case. And, years later, instead of a little cash in her red envelope on Chinese New Year, she receives a university invitation in her red envelope and becomes one of the first female students to attend. The combination of great watercolor illustrations and the true story of a Chinese woman whose wish came true makes this one a treasure. As you read with a daughter from China, be prepared for some hard conversations about their preference for boys.

Demi is known for her very imaginative children’s books, but as a practicing Buddhist whose faith overflows into her work, most of them are not ones we are going to read regularly since we do not share the same worldview. The Boy Who Painted Dragons has incredible illustrations–truly remarkable pictures of dragons accented in gold. The story starts with the dragons in heaven who create thunder and lightening and send the rain and get their power “from the secret forces in nature,”clearly mythical. The story is of a boy who paints dragons everywhere he is with onlookers thinking he does it because of his love for them, but he really fears them. When a heavenly dragon visits him and sees his fear, he gives him a gift and he goes on a journey to overcome his fears and learn wisdom and courage. Read with your child and properly discussed afterwards about what godly fear is and how we gain wisdom and courage, this one is worthwhile. And, you can always just look at the pictures and not read it at all–they are truly that good.

I’ve been asked more times than I could count about chopsticks–why Chinese people use them, how they started using them, etc., etc. And, my answers have been…well…lamo. The Story of Chopsticks by Ying Chang Compestine answers it for me. And, it’s super cute silly to boot. With paper cut style illustrations with bright colors, the book tells the story of a boy who “discovers” chopsticks because he didn’t want to wait for his food to cool to eat it with his hands and wanted to eat before his brothers because he was afraid there wouldn’t be any left for him. Everyone is shocked when they see him eating with sticks but decide he’s right, it is the best way to eat. And, he becomes “the happiest boy in China” when his family opens the first chopstick factory and he always gets enough to eat.

My China Travel Journal is told from the perspective of a 9-year-old girl who visits some friends in China. With a scrapbook feel and a combination of real photos and illustrations, she shares observations of the unique things she found there culturally, with food, temples, Chinese characters, etc. Would be a good book to use as you prep your child for a trip to China or simply to open up conversation about the differences between daily life in China and wherever it is you live. Visit the website for Whole Wide World Toys who published this book too–some figures and a playmat that coordinate with this book are due out soon which would make this book even more fun and useful as you use play to help your child understand life in a different country. Can’t wait til they come out!

This one is simply fun to read. Roseanne Thong and Grace Lin’s Round is a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes is great for younger kids and teaching shapes as well as young elementary kids who are interested in things like name chops, radish cakes, and dim sum. And, with Grace Lin’s typical great illustrations and the singy songy rhyming verse of the words, this is one of my old favorites.

In Goldfish and Chrysanthemums, Andrea Cheng tells a sweet story of a Chinese American girl who creates a make shift backyard goldfish pond in love for her grandmother who received a letter telling her that her father’s old house in Suzhou city in Jiangsu Province had been torn down. The illustrations aren’t my favorite, but the story is one so sweet that this book is one I love to read. I love reading about how a child can show love and bring healing to someone else. Use it to talk about how we can show love to each other particularly when someone is hurting. Who knows what project may evolve out of reading this one with your children…

I was drawn to this book when I heard that author Grace Chang had a heart for  adoption. Jin Jin the Dragon tells the story of a golden dragon trying to discover what exactly he is. His journey to find an old turtle and wise crane to help him results in them encouraging him to discover and use his special gift – to breathe out water, a gift that saves a village’s harvest. I’m fairly certain that Grace set out to write a cute rendition of the classic story of how the dragon is a combination of other animals in Chinese folklore, that she did. But, there is a part of it that could be helpful to process with children who may be wondering about their own identity–“I’m a little part of each of you, but not quite any of you!”

In response to the success of her first book, Grace published Jin Jin and Rain Wizard in 2009. Inspired by growing up knowing the preciousness of rice and how important it was as a staple for China, Grace wrote this one to share the classic fable of the rain wizard as well as how rice was introduced to China. As Jin Jin finds he cannot breathe water out anymore, he travels back in time and seeks the rain wizard in the clouds to send down rain to the people who need it. In doing that, he discovers the reason he can’t spit water–he had thrown out his leftover rice, wasting the precious treasure. The rain wizard fixes everything though with my favorite line in the book: “But it’s never too late to correct a mistake.” Though I like the original better than this one, if your child falls for Jin Jin, I’m sure he or she will like the second book too.

In an updated version of a classic Chinese folktale, The Seven Chinese Sisters tells the story of 7 sisters all with different skills who come together to save their baby sister from a dragon. Grace Lin’s illustrations, as always, are total winners. I love how the girls work together as a team and realize that each of their gifts are important for a shared purpose–great lesson in how we are part of the Body and what it means to be in community. But, before reading this to your little one, be aware that the dragon does “snatch” up the baby to eat for his dinner. The words and the illustration of the snatching could be really unsettling for some anxious little ones even if you assure them from the start that it ends well.

Another version of basically the same tale, The Seven Chinese Brothers tells the story of seven brothers each with a different special power (amazing hearing, amazing vision, strength, iron bones, legs that could grow, never getting hot, and crying tears to drown a village…not exactly a great super power there). Feeling threatened by the strength of one man, the Emperor decides to execute the third brother. Together, the brothers outwit the Emperor and are all saved as the two armies are swept away along with the Emperor at the hands (…or tears) of the baby brother. An amusing little tale about working together as a team but probably too much for a sensitive listener–threats of decapitation, drowning, being burned alive, and shot full of arrows….hmmm….not so good for bedtime reading.

Written by the young Rachel Yu, The Five Mouse Brothers is very similar to the story in the Seven Chinese Sisters and Seven Chinese Brothers. When food goes missing, one of the five mouse brothers is accused of stealing and put in prison and sentenced to death. But, the brothers, each with some supernatural gift, switch spots with the accused brother and manage to escape the death sentences (think cat, mousetrap, poison, and drowning….eeck.). In the end, the villages are forced to declare the accused mouse innocent. Too violent and not enough redeeming to read to Lydia. But, yay for independent and creative teenagers and for the parents that encourage them! Big supporter of that.

NONFICTION TITLES

Our favorite nonfiction title. China by Debbi Michiko Florence is fantastic. Packed full of information that isn’t the typical facts given about China and Chinese culture, language help, facts and discussion questions, and (our favorite) activity ideas including crafts and games to extend the use of the book. I’m particularly fond of the town meeting activity on the page talking about Three Gorges Dam and the differing opinions about its construction. Super educational, well made and laid out, this would be a great reference for homeschool (or not) for a unit on China. I’m thinking I can really get some things out of here for future classroom visits if my daughter wants to take the opportunity to present to kids about her home country. If nothing else, it will become a go-to reference for you when the kids (or you) are bored. Can’t go wrong with this one.

I’ve read a good bit about China. But, I’ve never even heard of Admiral Zheng He. So embarrassing. In Adventures of the Treasure Fleet: China Discovers the World, Ann Bowler does a great job teaching children all of us about the amazing story (think pirates and storms!) of seven voyages of more than 300 gigantic ships that sailed across the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean to the coast of Africa and back again in the early 1400s. At each port, China’s porcelain and silks were traded for jewels, herbs, and medicines as well as all sorts of treasures as gifts to the Chinese emperor from the leaders of faraway lands. Love the illustrations as well as the layout–reading like a fiction story at the top and other text reading like an encyclopedia at the bottom. You’ll get a lot out of this one. (And, for families with a tie to Nanjing, that’s where the ships were built and started out)

Jacqueline Morley, wherever you are, my boys love your books. They never fail to get jaws to drop and spur on some chuckling. In You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!: Defenses You’d Rather Not Build, Morley combines facts, humor (e.g., “If the Emperor sends you on an impossible mission, it’s best not to return”), and silly illustrations to really teach and entertain about the emperor, the terra cotta warriors, and all about the Great Wall. Great for older kids–not good for the youngers since there’s a bunch of icky stuff talked about which is appropriate historically but not good for particular audiences (e.g., “Handy Hint: If you’re desperately in debt, sell your children (daughters first) as slaves.” and “Handy Hint: Only give birth to sons. A daughter will be a disappointment to your family.”)

Even better than the above title, in my opinion, in the same style, Morley uses silly illustrations and word bubbles as well as normal text to entertain and educate kids about the Forbidden City in You Wouldn’t Want to Be in the Forbidden City!: A Sheltered Life You’d Rather Avoid. We did not know that the required tip to the gatekeeper as you entered the Forbidden City is known as the gate “squeeze.” And, we appreciate the hint that since only chief ministers get a cushion to kneel on, we should wear knee pads. Also good to know that evil spirits only fly in straight lines so a simple screen placed inside each gate keeps them out. My boys are a big fan of this one.

This title could fit into both the nonfiction as well as the Chinese learning categories. Count Your Way Through China is a good book to enhance a first level Chinese class since counting in Chinese is typically one of the first things they learn. Each 2-page layout is for a number and shows the character and gives the pinyin and then teaches you something about China or Chinese culture that coordinates with the number (e.g., two giant pandas, five musical tones, the festival of nine stars of the plow, ten major dynasties). Some of the info is a bit of stretch to coordinate with the number, but no biggie; it’s still a good one.

Similar to the above title, Colors of China is a good book to enhance early Chinese learning. Each 2-page layout features a color; gives the character, pinyin, and pronunciation for the color; and then teaches something about China or Chinese culture that coordinates with the color (e.g., tan stones of the Great Wall, blue porcelain, orange fish, black bicycle tires…). We like the illustrations, and the text isn’t just the “given” elements of China. Some interesting stuff here for kids (and their parents reading it).

Don’t let the title fool you. D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet is not a baby book to learn the ABCs. Each layout features a letter and something for that letter related to China or Chinese culture that aren’t all the easy, typical topics (e.g., B is for Beijing, E is for Ehru, O is for opera, Q is for Qin terra cotta warriors, S is for silk road…). Text is in a small font and fairly wordy (but really interesting!), targeting more the older elementary set or even early middle school if they are doing research and can get past reading a book that has “alphabet” in the title. Illustrated by a native of Shanxi Province, the pictures are really interesting and inviting.

Another brilliantly illustrated book by Demi, Kites gives amazing images of all different kinds of Chinese kites and introduces The Double Ninth Festival celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month when kite flying is seen as a “symbol of rising higher and higher, being better and better, stronger, smarter, and finer in everything one does.” It starts off with a holy painter who paints pictures for people to buy and offer in the temple to the gods which are all then explained. A woman comes to the painter requesting a very special offering in honor of her son, and the dragon kite was born. It’s a great book to show your children all the various different kites and to talk about traditions–and to be able to talk to your children about what is True and what is untrue and why.

Red Eggs & Dragon Boats: Celebrating Chinese Festivals is more of a reference book than anything else. But, it’s really one worth investing in if you can find a copy. All sorts of celebrations and festivals are described here in addition to Chinese traditions not tied to a specific holiday–like the tradition of giving babies a special locket necklace with the Chinese characters for “100 Family Names” engraved on it to symbolize the protection over the child of his or her family and the tradition of tiger clothes and tiger shoes (with eyes wide open to help the child learn how to walk without tripping).

China (DK Eyewitness Books) is a family must-have book. Two page spreads in this large hardcover book cover a little of everything about China with great real images. Includes a basic timeline in the back as well as a disc with clipart images from the book. This is perfect for school projects or just to help satisfy some curiosity and answer questions.

We had the privilege of going to see the Terra Cotta Warriors when we were in China for Lydia’s adoption since her home city was not far from Xi’an, and we stayed in Xi’an to complete her adoption. When I saw this book, Hidden Army: Clay Soldiers of Ancient China (All Aboard Reading), at one of my kids’ school book fairs, I bought every copy they had on hand. Turns out you can buy it on Amazon, so I didn’t need to go all crazy that day. Combining real photos with illustrations, it tells the story of this amazing site in the middle of China including diagrams of how the site is laid out and the history behind it. So glad we have a copy…okay, a few copies.

No longer in publication, we got A Is For Asia from our library though you can find it used. In the same fashion as the other alphabet books and counting books, a fact is given corresponding to each letter. But, this book is about all of Asia rather than only China, helping children to place China into a larger context. In addition to China, Japan, Korea, India, parts of the former Soviet Union, parts of the Middle East, and Pacific Islands are mentioned. We like the interesting illustrations–my kids are fascinated with the map on the cover–and you can stretch this book out by using some of the facts to come up with some fun activities. Your kids won’t argue with you if you want to play chess, eat Turkish delight, or play a lively rendition of Bite the Carp’s Tail, I’m sure (look under F is for Fish to find out how). Note that there’s some content you might have to debrief about (i.e., Q is for Qur’an, “singing praises to Allah, a child’s voice, pure and clear, rises to heaven.” and Z is for Zen, “Zen culture practiced throughout Asia, emphasizes peace and simplicity and a thoughtful, disciplined way of life.”)

C Is for China teaches a little bit about China with each letter of the alphabet (A is for abacus, N is for noodles, through Z is for zen). All real photographs are used. And, though the information is basic, still an interesting book and a good one to keep in the library for a supplemental book…or for when someone asks you what renminbi is (I know you get asked that regularly).

Adoptive mom Robyn Chance has written and illustrated her own C is for China. From a gifted artist, the pictures are sweet and give a lot to look at on each page. And, the rhyme for each letter teaching something about China is cute. Note that she included “B is for Buddha” with the text: “He treasured all people, regardless of races. His message to all is to stay in the present. To be still and to listen can be very pleasant.” Also, note that “T is for Taoism” with the text: “It strives to find harmony and stay ‘in the flow.’ Once you find it, it’s said that you will know.” They give some opportunities for discussion in this house, for sure. For X, she gives her daughter’s Chinese name and has an adorable illustration of her daughter from Sichuan who has a scar from a repaired cleft lip–some of you with children with a similar scar may appreciate having this book in your library for that reason alone! The book opens vertically, making it a little hard for small hands to hold and flip pages, combined with a little bit of a higher price for the hardcopy, this may be a good one to download to your ereader instead.

LEARNING CHINESE TITLES

Artist and author Christoph Newmann did a great job with The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters, integrating Chinese characters that go along with the story in a fun and interesting way into each illustration. We love the large size and quality of the book itself and the modern colors and interest of the pictures even without the characters–which make this book totally worthwhile if your child is learning Chinese or interested in how Chinese characters resemble that which they represent. The story is a simple one–a little girl named Lin has a pet baby dragon that one day disappears. She sets out to find it and goes on an adventure (one that does include a “witch”), in the end finding her dragon all grown up in the sky. Sure hope Christoph publishes some more books with Chinese characters like this one…

I love this author and wish she was still writing books like these I’m sharing with you. She is masterful at writing kids books with beautiful illustrated pages of paper collages with text that integrates characters and how they pictorially represent what they stand for–something that just fascinates me. Through two characters Xiao Ming and his mother, In the Snow includes the Chinese characters for tree, rest, forest, drench, rain, snow, sun, sparkling, bright, and moon (yue, my favorite since it’s part of our daughter’s Chinese name).

Another one of my favorites, At the Beach by Huy Voun Lee, like the above title, introduces a handful of other characters and shows how they actually resemble their meaning. With the same amazing paper collage illustrations and Xiao Ming and his mother again, this one includes the characters for person, big, small, sky, water, mountain, and sand. It also includes the characters that opened my eyes wide and led to my first custom made Chinese charm that I still wear often around my neck–the characters for woman and child and how when they are put together–woman and child together–the character that results means good.

Perfect to read in the fall, in In the Leaves, Huy Voun Lee uses the context of a farm trip to introduce 10 new Chinese characters–grain, fire, autumn, field, sprout, pig, family mouth, harmony, and rice. I love how the characters grain and mouth together make up the character for harmony. Chinese characters truly fascinate me.

Irene Tsai’s The Frog in the Well is a cheng yu, a Chinese idiom, the Chinese version of a parable. It tells the story of a frog who thinks living in a well is paradise until an invitation to a turtle to join him ends in him learning that there’s a whole ocean out there much grander than his little well. Though the illustrations are simplistic, the story itself is one I love, teaching not to settle for something good when the best is still out there. The story is enough to stand on its own–but what makes this one more fun is that the Chinese characters (both traditional and simplified) and pinyin are provided alongside the English with a dictionary in the back of all the words used. Hoping Irene keeps it up with more titles that reinforce Chinese learning as well as teach some classic tales with a message.

This larger sized board book from Candlewick Press, A Nest in Springtime: A Mandarin Chinese-English bilingual book of numbers, is a great resource. The story is very simple, simply counting the eggs and goslings in the nest. But, every page has Chinese on the left and the English on the right so that children can easily see which characters are what. Even though the age on this is 1-4, it’s a helpful tool for my 8 year old who just finished her second year of Chinese class. I’m sure it will be used for my 3 year old starting Chinese this year too.

Another title from Candlewick Press, Summertime Rainbow: A Mandarin Chinese-English bilingual book of colors uses the same layout (Mandarin on the left and English on the right) to show which characters mean what. This one focuses on the colors of the rainbow with very simple text and the same larger board book design, creating another good resource for preschoolers as well as older kids starting to learn Chinese.