In the Leaves

by Huy Voun Lee

A striking book that introduces children to written Chinese characters

On a beautiful autumn day, Xiao Ming and his friends take a trip to a farm. Xiao Ming can’t wait to show everyone the new Chinese characters he has learned, and his friends are just as excited to see them.

Children will be delighted to follow along as Xiao Ming explains how to read ten Chinese characters, and they’ll be pleased as they begin to discover the beauty—and logic—of one of the oldest picture languages in the world.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship, Language, China, Cultural, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

I was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. My family came to the United States in 1975 as refugees. We became citizens in 1983. I am a Children’s books illustrator. Sometimes, I also write my own books. Like most artist, I enjoy experimenting with different media. My favorite medium is paper, because it offers me the most versatility to create 2D or 3D art. If my works can make someone smile, then I think I succeeded my goal as an artist. I hope my works brighten your day!

Reviews

[Hannah Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Leaves takes place on a beautiful autumn morning. Xiao Ming is visiting a farm with his friends. Xiao had recently learned new Chinese characters. While they’re exploring the farm, Xiao draws Chinese characters in the dirt that reflect what they are seeing on the farm, such as grain, field, and pig. His friends are fascinated with the Chinese characters and how they look like the objects they represent. At the end of the book, Xiao teaches them the symbol for “mouth” and explains that he’s getting hungry. The story ends with the friends eating rice balls and Xiao reflecting on how much fun he had teaching his friends Chinese characters.

[Molly Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story! It is about the main character, Xiao Ming, who is visiting a farm with his friends, and he had also recently learned new Chinese characters. Xiao draws Chinese characters in the dirt that reflect what they are seeing on the farm, and his friends are amazed by the Chinese characters and how they look like the objects they represent. In the end, Xiao reflects on how much fun he had teaching his friends Chinese characters. This book represents friendship and diversity, and I would definitely read this to my students.

[Esther Westfall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! My kids get to hear different languages sometimes, but it's not very often that they get to see how different languages are written. They really enjoyed it. I liked that it explained to you why the Chinese characters are drawn the way that they are; if it's drawn this way it looks like a field, and if you add a couple of more little slashes, then it looks like a field that has sprouted, etc. It's wonderfully written, and I would recommend it to everyone.

[Jessica Leake · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was a great book, but i did not like how it was written. During the book they visit a farm and at each stop a different Chinese character is introduced. I did not find this very effective to the story. I enjoyed the different types of pictures, but the book it self was not very well written in my opinion.

[Kelsey Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Xiao Ming who teaches his friends 10 Chinese characters while on a farm. The readers get to follow along his excitement about the Chinese language and it's characters as Xiao Ming teaches his friends them. This is great for ELLs because it has both Chinese and English.

[McKenna Cannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is great for English Language Learners because it has both languages; Chinese and English. It is a great concept because it has the character teach ten Chinese characters. Its good to introduce when you want to introduce other heritages and such in the classroom. But this for sure would be great for an English language learner.

[Talea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book introducing young children to Mandarin Chinese characters. My daughter and I both learned something new today.

[Taylor Tomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xiao Ming teaches his friends about Chinese and the language. They start to notice how beautiful the language is. This is a great work to show the kids another language that they are not use too.

[Hannah Baumgartner · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Leaves is written and illustrated by Huy Voun Lee as she tells a story about a boy, Xiao Ming, who takes his friends on a farm, with his mother, to visit for the day. Xiao teaches his friends how to write words in Chinese, such as; grain, fire, and harvest. Xiao explains that the words look like and represent actual grain, fire, and the harvest season, and has been written this way for a long time. Xiao's friends are excited to take the journey on the farm and learn about their friends native language.

Huy Voun Lee did extraordinary colorful and vibrant illustrations with Double-Page Spreads throughout the whole book! In the Endpages Huy Voun Lee has 10 words in Chinese, with the symbol, the American word, and then the pronunciation of how to say it in approximations of Mandarin Chinese. I liked this multicultural picture book because it is true to the Chinese language. I shared this book with a classmate who's native language is Chinese and she was excited about this book and we went through all ten words, I had to use different sounds and mouth movements than I am used to. This is a fun book and easy to learn a few Chinese words!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voun Lee’s book In the Leaves has great autumn colors throughout. Each page has a thick bold border. The pictures are very detailed showing the textures on the house, grain, clothes, etc. Each page is full of color and text. The art mirrors the text making this an easy read for children. Kids would enjoy learning the writing and definitions of Chinese words. This would be a fun book to read to help children understand diversity.

All ages

Social Studies ~ Talk about China and the Chinese language.

L.A. ~ Have students try to write a sentence using the Chinese language, or depending on the age just write the words we learned when we read this book.

[Kara Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a beautiful autumn day, Xiao Ming and his friends take a trip to a farm. Xiao Ming can’t wait to show everyone the new Chinese characters he has learned, and his friends are just as excited to see them.

Children will be delighted to follow along as Xiao Ming explains how to read ten Chinese characters, and they’ll be pleased as they begin to discover the beauty—and logic—of one of the oldest picture languages in the world.


Great for a Chinese lesson and a review on Fall on the farm. Great explanation on both. This book would be great for difference cultures.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This simple story of children visiting a farm in the fall and having a picnic lunch gains interest due to the cultural exchange between the boy and his friends. Each stop at the farm introduces a Chinese character and an aspect of Chinese culture, a story or a rationale for the way a character is drawn shedding light on the meaning and combinations of characters. Featured words include: grain, fire, field, mouth, harmony, pig, family, autumn, sprout, and rice. A great resource for introducing Chinese language, picture writing or how the way we live is reflected in our language.

[funny dot J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about autumn and chinese writing. In the story, a boy introduces to his friends 10 simple Chinese characters, one on each page. The interesting part is that the characters are pictograms that resemble the objects they represent. For example, the "mouth" character is a square depicting an open mouth, and the word "farm" shows a land divided into four plots. The pictograms can also be combined to form new characters. Overall, a fun way to introduce a different writing system and culture.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

An obvious but cute story about a young Chinese American boy, Xiao Ming, enjoying a fall picnic with his friends. He teaches the other children a few Chinese characters and builds connections to the picnic foods. The artwork is colorful and captures the feeling of a fall picnic. Recommended as an interesting introduction to Chinese characters or multicultural sharing. This would be a good complement for My Pet Dragon.

[Katie Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how it provides information from two different areas. This book is interesting because it is teaching students about some of the things in the fall such as falling leaves or harvesting fields but also Chinese characters and how they are simple to understand and learn. The character in the book is Chinese but he shows his non Chinese friends some of the characters from his language.

[Logan Young]

2nd and 3rd grades. Quick read. Story of a chinese boy, Sao Ming, teaching his friends about his culture by showing them how to write a few characters. Students could use this book to learn how to write a few Chinese characters and learn about Chinese culture.

[Danelle Spicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about a boy bringing his friends to his family farm to show them the new words that he has learned. Great for both young readers and older readers to learn words from a different language.

[Elizabeth]

The narrative isn't the most compelling -- the text is focused on explaining the pictograms -- but learning image-based language can be fun in and of itself; and cut-paper art (which this book uses) is always impressive.

[Drew Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xiao Ming introduces his friends to relevant and recently learned Chinese characters as they visit a farm. This is a fun way to teach kids (or adults) about other languages, as spoken and written, in a relatable and unpretentious setting.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really neat book with the Chinese symbols park of the learning experience with the book and the discussion of Autumn.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a visit to a farm, Xiao Ming shows his friends the new Chinese characters he has learned by explaining that the characters are like pictures.

[Whitney Zollman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for fall and when teaching multiculturism. This book is about a young Chinese American boy going on a picnic with his friends and teaching them some Chinese traits.

[Kaitlyn Horvath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book especially if there is a Chinese student in the class because we could bring their culture into the class.

[Garrett Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good short read! Would be a good book to have in the classroom for students of Chinese or Cambodian ancestry! Would also be good for introducing Chinese writing techniques!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great multicultural book that represents Chinese culture. It shows Chinese characters as well, which would be good for introducing to children.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome way to learn about Chinese characters!

[Lynn Plourde · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars-The endpapers include the pronunciations and symbols for Chinese words while the inside text explains the logic behind Chinese symbols. Words included are: grain, fire, autumn, pig, etc.