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Boy Dumplings
When a hungry ghost threatens to gobble up a plump little boy, the boy tricks the ghost by convincing him to prepare an elaborate recipe first.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Ying Chang Compestine
35 books136 followersA leading national authority on culture and cuisine, award-winning author, and former food editor for Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine, Ying Chang Compestine has written 27 books across multiple genres, including picture books, YA novels, and healthy adult cookbooks. She has hosted cooking shows, worked as a food editor for Martha Stewart’s Body+Soul, and was a spokesperson for Nestle Maggi and Celestial Seasonings.
Her novel "Revolution is Not a Dinner Party" and her memoir "Growing Up Under a Red Flag" recount her childhood during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. These works have received awards globally and high praise from prestigious media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and Publisher's Weekly. Her novel "A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts" is currently being adapted into an animated TV series.
Named one of the "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" by The Author's Show, her books have sold worldwide in multiple languages. Endorsed by Dr. Andrew Weil, her cookbook "Cooking with an Asian Accent" has been described as “a contemporary new cuisine.”
Ying believes food can be both healthy and delicious and that healthy eating is the key to a long, happy life. By integrating her background into her recipe creation, she features the three most critical Asian principles of food in her dishes: satisfaction of the senses, yin-yang balance, and medicinal properties.
In addition to writing, Ying has been a sought-after keynote speaker for high-end cruise ships, private jets, and resorts, including The World Residences at Sea, Crystal, Silver Sea, Viking, TCS World Travel, and Canyon Ranch. Ying is also frequently invited to speak at schools and conferences worldwide to share her journey as a writer—how her life in Wuhan, China, inspired her work—and to promote healthy eating and living. Her website is www.yingc.com
Her novel "Revolution is Not a Dinner Party" and her memoir "Growing Up Under a Red Flag" recount her childhood during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. These works have received awards globally and high praise from prestigious media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and Publisher's Weekly. Her novel "A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts" is currently being adapted into an animated TV series.
Named one of the "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" by The Author's Show, her books have sold worldwide in multiple languages. Endorsed by Dr. Andrew Weil, her cookbook "Cooking with an Asian Accent" has been described as “a contemporary new cuisine.”
Ying believes food can be both healthy and delicious and that healthy eating is the key to a long, happy life. By integrating her background into her recipe creation, she features the three most critical Asian principles of food in her dishes: satisfaction of the senses, yin-yang balance, and medicinal properties.
In addition to writing, Ying has been a sought-after keynote speaker for high-end cruise ships, private jets, and resorts, including The World Residences at Sea, Crystal, Silver Sea, Viking, TCS World Travel, and Canyon Ranch. Ying is also frequently invited to speak at schools and conferences worldwide to share her journey as a writer—how her life in Wuhan, China, inspired her work—and to promote healthy eating and living. Her website is www.yingc.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 28, 2017
Watch out for hungry ghosts! They like boy dumplings...so watch were you go!
June 1, 2013
Funny and smart. Good book for chinese culture
October 21, 2015
This is a hilarious and entertaining one! My first English picture book about ghost :P
So a very hungry garbage eating ghost was hunting for food when he stumbled upon this chubby boy. The smart boy came up with a brilliant solution to escape from being eaten. He taught the ghost a delicious recipe for boy dumplings with outrageous ingredients and process (including washing the boy thoroughly especially behind ears and between toes PLUS a massage and a nap!!!), the super hungry ghost was tempted and went all out to prepare his meal. When the ghost had everything prepared and ready to chop the boy, the roosters had started to crow!!!
So a very hungry garbage eating ghost was hunting for food when he stumbled upon this chubby boy. The smart boy came up with a brilliant solution to escape from being eaten. He taught the ghost a delicious recipe for boy dumplings with outrageous ingredients and process (including washing the boy thoroughly especially behind ears and between toes PLUS a massage and a nap!!!), the super hungry ghost was tempted and went all out to prepare his meal. When the ghost had everything prepared and ready to chop the boy, the roosters had started to crow!!!
January 31, 2010
Funny story about a ghost who captures a boy and wants to eat him. To stop the ghost from eating him, the boy convinces the ghost that the best way to eat him is to make "boy dumplings." The boy sets the ghost out to get all of the ingredients, so when the time comes to eat the boy it is light out and the ghost turns to smoke.
Much like a Kieko Kaza? book
Good for older elementary grades, 3-5? Pictures are quite scary and text is a bit long
Much like a Kieko Kaza? book
Good for older elementary grades, 3-5? Pictures are quite scary and text is a bit long
August 6, 2010
This was a funny ghost story about a boy outsmarting a ghost in China. I think it would be a good book to share around Halloween and the ghost is not very scary looking and the boy who might get eaten by the ghost does not appear scared at all.
November 15, 2012
A humorous book that includes suspicion, scariness, and problem solving is exactly what this book is. This is a book your students will definitely enjoy as it adds a funny side to making dumplings and it takes place in a country far away.
October 20, 2009
My kids absolutely loved this book. Can't even tell you how many times we've read this one over and over.
October 26, 2009
I've read other tales from other cultures with a similar theme--"dinner" outwits the potential diner, but I liked the final twist in this. Fun.
September 10, 2010
This ghost is really quite frightening! I loved the ending. A great book to show smarts wins over greed
August 29, 2011
The story of a clever boy who outsmarts a ghost who wishes to eat him.
Includes a recipe for boy-free dumplings.
Includes a recipe for boy-free dumplings.
February 26, 2014
Weird and awesome!
May 20, 2015
Very funny, some of the illustrations may be a bit scary for young ones, but my 7 year old loved it!
January 7, 2016
Funny, can be adapted for storytelling
October 12, 2020
Published: 2009
Genre: Children's Lit
Theme: Chinese culture, bilingualism, food, wit,
This was a fun story of a boy using his wit to outsmart a garbage ghost. What I loved about this book was the fact that there was narration in both English and Chinese and even included a recipe. I would worry that some of the illustrations would be scary for young children so I would have this book in a classroom library for 3rd or 4th graders.
Genre: Children's Lit
Theme: Chinese culture, bilingualism, food, wit,
This was a fun story of a boy using his wit to outsmart a garbage ghost. What I loved about this book was the fact that there was narration in both English and Chinese and even included a recipe. I would worry that some of the illustrations would be scary for young children so I would have this book in a classroom library for 3rd or 4th graders.
June 18, 2018
Natalia’s (4 y.o.) review: “The first page was good and then it was not so good. I would give it a two because it’s not terrible. I didn’t like it because there were no unicorns, and I also like more beautiful illustrations.”
July 2, 2019
This book has an creepy and spooky feel to it from the beginning. The book who wants to eat the boy because she looks like a dumpling chases him around trying to eat him as he runs through the town. The illustrations use a fun color scheme to depict the spookiness of the story from begging to end.
September 27, 2020
Oooomg Boy Dumplings is SO FUNNY 😂 and a perfect read for this spooky time of year! My 7yr old is a huge fan now and wants me to read more books like this 😆! This is gonna be hard to do/find since I have never read a book like this! Cleaver and hilarious!
January 25, 2025
I read this book aloud to my family, and I really enjoyed the story. It’s engaging, fun, and the illustrations are fantastic. My only issue with the book is that I think it would be scary for any children under first grade.
March 26, 2025
A little weird with some of the orders. I guess it was a way to draw time out so the day would come, but I had really thought the ghost was going to realized he had dumplings even without the boy, and so they could be friends.
That's not how it worked out.
That's not how it worked out.
January 26, 2018
It was an alright lil story
May 5, 2023
5 stars for this inventive folk tale about a boy outwitting a ghost and a recipe for delicious dumplings
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December 5, 2016This story, of a young boy and a ghoul on the search for dumplings, was incredibly inviting and engaging. King Chang Compestine's Boy Dumplings: A Tasty Chinese Tale shares a traditional Chinese tale in a fun, illustrated way.
The text itself was very entertaining, and when paired with the images, made for an incredible multicultural children's story. As the young boy wanders around the Beijing streets at night, he comes across a ghost, searching for dinner. The ghost traps the boy and conspires to eat him, but the boy has another idea: he convinces the ghoul to make him into dumplings. "I know a delicious recipe for boy dumplings!" the boy cries, and sends the ghost on an all-night hunt for ingredients and supplies. An endearing tale of a young, kind-hearted hero outsmarting an evil ghost, Boy Dumplings is a classic, one that I'll certainly share with my students in the future.
The images in this story are incredible: full of detail, various colors, and strong attention to the mood of each scene. Most of the scenes are dark and a little dreary, as the ghost searches for everything he needs to make boy dumplings. The illustrations bleed from page to page, making the story a real page-turner. Some of the text is placed in centralized white areas, while other pages show white text on the dark night sky. The images and words flow seamlessly together, and never contradict or diverge. At the very end of the story, the author included a boy-free dumplings recipe, my personal favorite part of the book.
I really enjoyed reading this book and it is definitely a story I'll keep in mind - and a dumpling recipe I'll try!
The text itself was very entertaining, and when paired with the images, made for an incredible multicultural children's story. As the young boy wanders around the Beijing streets at night, he comes across a ghost, searching for dinner. The ghost traps the boy and conspires to eat him, but the boy has another idea: he convinces the ghoul to make him into dumplings. "I know a delicious recipe for boy dumplings!" the boy cries, and sends the ghost on an all-night hunt for ingredients and supplies. An endearing tale of a young, kind-hearted hero outsmarting an evil ghost, Boy Dumplings is a classic, one that I'll certainly share with my students in the future.
The images in this story are incredible: full of detail, various colors, and strong attention to the mood of each scene. Most of the scenes are dark and a little dreary, as the ghost searches for everything he needs to make boy dumplings. The illustrations bleed from page to page, making the story a real page-turner. Some of the text is placed in centralized white areas, while other pages show white text on the dark night sky. The images and words flow seamlessly together, and never contradict or diverge. At the very end of the story, the author included a boy-free dumplings recipe, my personal favorite part of the book.
I really enjoyed reading this book and it is definitely a story I'll keep in mind - and a dumpling recipe I'll try!
May 19, 2012
Eating a boy! Much more explicit and graphic than the slightly veiled Hansel & Gretel versions. This is my least favorite of Compestine's books, even if it is based on a Chinese Ghost Festival. Kind of a stone soup variant, I found the illustrations fearful. There are plenty of other books that can convey and appreciation of Chinese culture. I would use this only in a big pinch with young readers.
January 28, 2021
A Garbage-Eating Ghost searches the town for something to eat. He finds that no one has left any offerings for him, but he does find a plump little boy. Perhaps he can turn him into boy dumplings. Hilarity ensues as the boy tells him that the ghost must find different ingredients for dumplings and thwarts the ghost's plans. Funny illustrations and funny story. This book is inspired by the Ghost Festival (a Chinese Halloween of sorts). The book includes a recipe for "Boy-Free Dumplings."
September 13, 2010
The title sounds disturbing, but it's actually a funny Halloween story with its basis in the Chinese Ghost Festival that takes place in August/September. I appreciate the author's notes at the end with details about the actual Chinese celebration, along with a recipe for Boy-free dumplings. ;-)
December 9, 2010
I liked the story a lot and I liked the Author's notes and recipe for Boy Free dumplings at the end of the book even more, but I don't think this is a story to read to really young children as some of the illustrations are a bit scary.
March 25, 2011
This book has an interesting storyline as it deals with a ghost who wants to make boy dumplings. However, the boy is able to out smart the ghost. The ending of the book is neat because it gives a recipe for dumpling soup (boy free).
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April 1, 2012E COMPESTINE
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April 24, 2012this a great book for modeling narratives and the range possibilities students can travel with their writing. This book is also a great book for a laugh.
May 19, 2012
Freaky!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews