Children's Books discussion

This month participants are encouraged to read about China. Books can include history, politics, geography, biographies, cookbooks, religions, fiction, graphic novels, etc., etc.

Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods

This fascinating and excellent book explores the adaptations of traditional Chinese food into the Americanized Chinese foods found at American Chinese restaurants. The writing flows smoothly and maintains the reader's interest, with the author relating personal experiences as well. The book is divided into 7 sections: Chopsticks, Tea, Appetizers, Soup, Side Orders, Chef's Specials (entrees), and Dessert. There is an introduction in each section, and an introduction for each type of food. Each food type is followed by a Chinese folktale related to the origin of that food. For example, the dish "Dragon and Phoenix" is followed by a folktale about a man and a woman brought together by each playing a jade flute. Crab Rangoons and fortune cookies are identified as American inventions. Each section has a full-page, full-color painting at the beginning, and a full-page ink and two-color illustration begins each food type. Smaller ink and two-color illustrations are scattered throughout. Back matter includes an author's note; a recipe for Scallion Pancakes; further notes about each food; an index; and an extensive bibliography including books, videos, websites, and articles. An outstanding resource. I am hoping it garners some awards.

Little White Duck: A Childhood in China

A very well-done graphic style memoir of a girl growing up in the late 1970s in China. Good pictures, interesting story; glossary and translations of the Chinese characters and quotes scattered throughout the book.

A Young Painter: The Life and Paintings of Wang Yani-- China's Extraordinary Young Artist

I didn't write a review of this book, but it is about a young female Chinese painter, Wang Yani, who began painting animals at the age of 3.

Homesick: My Own Story

I didn't write a review of this one either, but a couple of other group members did.
Jean Fritz is not Chinese, but she spent a few years growing up in China, the daughter of missionaries.

I have not yet read the follow-up book, but in case anyone is interested:
China Homecoming

When she is 68, Jean finally has the chance to go back to China to reminisce about her growing up years there.

Dim Sum for Everyone!

Grace Lin's Dim Sum For Everyone is for all intents and purposes sweet and enlightening (and perhaps even quite engaging for the very young). However, and on a purely personal level, I really cannot say that I like the accompanying illustrations all that much, as they are simply much too cartoon-like for my aesthetic tastes (working well enough in conjunction with the narrative, but not in any way magical or spectacular, just simply and basically adequate). Also, and for me probably even more importantly, and as some of my GR friends have already pointed out in their own excellent reviews of Dim Sum For Everyone, the text itself (Grace Lin's printed words), they are rather, no actually, they are very much lacking in any kind of substance. Granted, the storyline of Dim Sum for Everyone of a Chinese American family going out for a traditional Dim Sum is to a point captivating and delightful, but there just is not all that much to it (not all that much detail, not all that much that can be described as more than a rather obvious scratching the proverbial surface of rudimentary description and depiction of the joys and ways and means of Dim Sum). And as someone who used to go out for Dim Sum quite regularly (during my university years), what I actually appreciate most are the two back pages of Dim Sum for Everyone which list twenty-two Dim Sum dishes (along with both the English and Chinese names of said dishes), and the two front pages, which detail some of the ingredients and utensils used to prepare and eat Dim Sum. As an introduction to Dim Sum for a very young child, Dim Sum For Everyone would likely work quite well, but indeed, older children would more than likely require more detail and a considerably stronger, more informative textual offering from Grace Lin.

But sadly, and really totally frigging horribly, Dim Sum for Everyone has actually now (in 20022) been banned in Duval County, Florida (along with 176 other books, sigh). And honestly, for ANYONE who thinks that Dim Sum for Everyone, that this totally and utterly inoffensive picture book should be banned and restricted (and this also includes politicians), well, you are obviously seriously deranged and unhinged, and TOTAL SHAME on you.

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China

I have very much enjoyed both narrative and accompanying illustrations of this Red Riding Hood type of tale from China, how the three sisters are able to outsmart and later kill the "big bad wolf" by subterfuge, and by specifically focusing and playing on the latter's greediness and gluttony. Author/illustrator Ed Young's water colours and pastels evocatively and expressively provide a perfect physical and atmospheric mirror of and to the text, with just enough creepiness to mildly frighten (although very sensitive children might well have a possibly stronger reaction). But that being said, and taking nothing away from my appreciation of text and images, I have also never found these types of stories all that enjoyable in and of themselves, as I personally do happen to really like wolves (and consider their generally horrible reputation in culture and lore one of the main reasons why they are now so critically endangered in many if not actually even most areas of the world).

However, Lon Po Po is actually (or at least it seems so to me) not ONLY a Red Riding Hood type of folktale, but also has similarities (and actually in my opinion, considerably stronger similarities) to the tale of the wolf and the seven little kids (Der Wolf und die Sieben Geißlein), as it appears in Grimm's Kinder- und Hausmärchen, a cautionary story, where a mother goat leaves the children home alone, and a hungry, nasty wolf gains entrance by using a number of disguises to appear and sound like the mother goat. For me, Lon Po Po is thus only very much partially a Red Riding Hood type of tale, as the wolf gaining entrance to the house by pretending to be the grandmother is truly much more similar to the wolf and the seven little kids type of folktale types. But I guess the latter is not nearly as popular as Red Riding Hood (and is thus also not as well known, especially in North America).

And with this salient fact in mind, I am actually rather massively disappointed that Ed Young has NOT provided an author's note on the genesis (and history) of his Lon Po Po. The fact that this tale actually feels more like a Wolf and the Seven Little Kids folklore variant is more of a personal consideration and observation, but according to Wikipedia, in the original Chinese tale, there were actually NOT three sisters, just ONE single girl left home alone, and really, Ed Young should have at least acknowledged this fact and that he had changed this in his adaptation (and also why).

Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvelous Journey to China, 21 Activities (8)

Indeed, Janis Herbert's Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvellous Journey to China is most definitely a very good if not even in fact a great general introduction not only to Marco Polo but also to late Medieval history, to the Silk Road, to individuals such as Genghis Khan and so on and so on, suitable for children above the age of ten or eleven. However and in my humble opinion, the book title of Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvellous Journey to China is actually also a bit of a misnomer. For albeit that author Janis Herbert might well have conceptualised her presented narrative as being primarily for younger audiences, that she has penned her text factually, engagingly and also (thankfully) without attempts at childish humour, this does also and equally make Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvellous Journey to China a quite decent and sufficiently informative extensive but not overly intensive, useful introduction to Marco Polo and his times for interested teenagers and adults, with the detailed bibliography and featured websites at the back of Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvellous Journey to China also providing a perfect starting off point for further study and research. And yes, even many of the 21 activities featured in Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvellous Journey to China could in my opinion likely be of interest for both children and adults (as indeed, I am certainly considering both trying my hand at weaving and at making a mosaic).

The Chinese Violin

Madeleine Thien's The Chinese Violin is a moving and poignant account about immigration, and how cherished objects, mementos and memories can ease the pain of homesickness. The Chinese violin of the title is a traditional musical instrument that Lin Lin and her father take with them when they immigrate from China to Canada (and from the look of the accompanying illustrations, I would say that they immigrate to the Greater Vancouver area). To Lin Lin (the daughter), it represents a treasured memento, as well as a link not only to her home village in China, but also to her past, to her culture. The Chinese violin eases Lin Lin's homesickness; it represents home, thoughts and memories of home, and the friends and family she had to leave behind when she immigrated to Canada. The violin is not only a treasure, but also a type of security blanket, a solace, which is why Lin Lin is so sad and distracted when the violin gets broken (and the fact that the violin gets broken as a result of a violent robbery makes its loss even more traumatic).

Also poignant and moving (to the point of repeatedly bringing tears to my eyes whilst reading The Chinese Violin) is the fact that Lin Lin's father works hard washing dishes at a busy restaurant, not only to make enough money to pay the rent, to make both ends meet, but also so he can purchase a new Chinese violin for his daughter. When Lin Lin receives her new Chinese violin from her father, she is happy beyond words; she practices playing the violin outside and both friends and strangers stop to listen to her music. And final scene in The Chinese Violin is absolutely priceless; Lin Lin, performing in the school auditorium to an appreciative audience, with her proud father beaming at her.

Now when I first perused this book, when I first read The Chinese Violin I really did not enjoy the accompanying illustrations all that much. I found them rather cartoon-like and not my cup of tea at all. However, there is actually a very good reason why these pictures seem rather cartoon-like (for illustrator Joe Chang originally created both concept and illustrations as an animated short feature for the National Film Board of Canada and the story, with images and music, was told without words). When the former was transferred from film to book, author Madeleine Thien then created, penned the words that would accompany Joe Chang's illustrations (his animation).

And looking at the illustrations with a critical eye, one can easily see how The Chinese Violin was originally conceptualised as an animated feature; the illustrations do seem and feel very much like a cartoon film feature. I still do not really "love" the illustrations, but being aware of the fact that the story, that The Chinese Violin was originally an animated short film feature, does make me realise and appreciate that Joe Chang's illustrations should probably be approached as being, or as having originally been an animated short film; they should be accepted for what they are. Because if one thinks of Chang's illustrations as representing an animated film, they work very if not exceedingly well, and Madeleine Thien's words do provide a wonderful complement, a poignant and emotional story for everyone, both children and adults alike.

A Big Mooncake for Little Star

Yes indeed, if I approach Grace Lin's Little Star not so much as an annoying little human child who obviously does not listen to her mother's admonishments about not consuming, about not touching that huge and obviously delicious big mooncake until her mother tells her to, and therefore keeps on nibbling at the mooncake on the sly night after night until there is nothing left, until the mooncake has disappeared, but rather do regard Little Star more as a mythological, trickster like entity, then definitely, I do both enjoy the sweet (no pun intended) mischievous storyline of A Big Mooncake for Little Star and also how Little Star's clandestine nightly mooncake eating escapades also and obviously mirror the phases of the moon itself, from full moon to new moon, from a big and totally intact mooncake to there being nothing left but a few small crumbs, necessitating another moon(cake) being baked in order to have the lunar cycle being started again (with of course Little Star also once again nibbling until there is nothing left). A fun and delightfully imaginative lunar origin tale is A Big Mooncake for Little Star (a story that while of course first and foremost fiction, also especially with the delightful accompanying pictures of the ever decreasing big big mooncake hanging in the sky and tempting Little Star, also could be used to explain, to demonstrate the monthly phases of the moon). Highly recommended and indeed a simply lovely marriage of Grace Lin's imaginative narrative and her equally magical golden and black hued pictures (as to and for my eyes, the combination of gold and black really does visually put both Little Star and her mother in the realm of myth, into the realm of folklore and magic).

Grandmother’s Visit

Although I did have tears in my eyes whilst reading Betty Quan's Grandmother's Visit, this is truly a lovely and embracingly gentle story about family, culture, death and how in Chinese tradition, leaving the outside lights on at night will bring back the spirits of the recently departed to say a final and loving farewell to the family (which in Grandmother's Visit happens with the grandmother basically placing her house key inside of her photo album like a bookmark, highlighting the most important photograph in the album for her young granddaughter, a picture of the grandmother holding her as a baby). Both heartwarming and saddening at the same time, Grandmother's Visit depicts not only the strong and sweet love between a little girl and her grandmother but also how much the grandmother's tales of growing up in China, her lessons on how to cook rice in the traditional Chinese way etc. have become part of her granddaughter's very soul and inner being, how their loving affection surpasses even the grandmother's death and will leave the granddaughter with many sweet memories and fond nostalgia (even if of course also sometimes tinged and imbued with necessary sadness).

Combined with Carmen Mok's expressively gentle and visually restful accompanying artwork, I have found Grandmother's Visit a both visual and verbal treat and one to also and highly recommend. And the only small caveat that I do leave with regard to Grandmother's Visit (and the main reason why the story is a four star and not a five star book for me), is that personally, I have found the depiction of the grandmother's final illness and that the little granddaughter obviously does not really know what is happening, that she is not being told the entire truth about how seriously and indeed fatally ill her grandmother is a trifle disconcerting and mildly annoying (as I do from my own childhood remember that when my great-grandmother was dying, I really felt as though I wanted and needed to know the truth and not just having everything be so hush-hush secretive).

An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-Ling

So yes and for the most part I have found Gillian Chan's 2004 An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-Ling (another instalment in the Dear Canada series of historical fiction diaries) both delightfully realistic with regard to historical time and place (early to mid 20th century Canada, especially and in particular Vancouver, British Columbia and its so-called Chinatown and how Mei-Ling and her father are trying to raise enough cash to have her mother and younger brother be able to join them in Vancouver from China) and also generally sufficiently culturally sensitive (and indeed also with Mei-Ling's voice in An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-Ling sounding like I am truly reading the journal of a generally rather typical tween girl and thus and thankfully not the musings and attitudes of the author, of Gillian Chan, pretending to, masquerading as a girl, something that to and for me is always always most essential if I am reading first person narration in fiction, since for me, inauthentic narrative voices are indeed a huge potential reading pleasure lessener if not killer).

However, even though I do think that and as already alluded to above An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-Ling strives to be culturally sensitive and to have Mei-Ling appear as a diarist who tells the truth as she sees it with fairness and lack of stereotyping, there nevertheless are in her diaries, in Mei-Ling's fictional journal entries a few instances where in my opinion, she does show and present a bit of one-sidedness, realistically rendered in my opinion, but something that does still need to be pointed out and discussed (like for example how Mei-Ling seems to have no issues whatsoever with her neighbour Mr. Chee being nasty and bigoted towards anyone who is not of Chinese background but then does not see and realise that Ivor Jones' schoolyard bullying of her because of Mei-Ling's own ethnicity is pretty well the same and akin to how Mr. Chee acts and talks).

But this small (and yes, also generally realistic enough) tendency of An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-Ling notwithstanding, I definitely do warmly recommend this book and think that Gillian Chan has done a generally wonderful job providing readers with both a wonderful and personally relatable fictional diarist and also a gentle but still necessarily harsh enough introduction to one of the in my humble opinion most shameful episodes of Canadian history and Canadian immigration policies (that most Chinese immigrants had to pay head taxes and that from 1923 to 1947, the Exclusion Act basically meant that NO immigration to Canada from China was even possible, was not permitted, and as the historical note at the back of An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-Ling clearly underlines, even if Mei-Ling's journal entries are still at times hopeful that the Exclusion Act will soon be repealed and scrapped).

I am only adding Tikki Tikki Tembo because it is a classic, but this is for me a hugely problematic and one star book.

Please note that I do realise Arlene Mosel's Tikki Tikki Tembo is a multiple award winner and considered by many as a well-loved and enduring classic, and I can as an older (and educated) adult to a certain point also at least somewhat appreciate how her, how Mosel’s presented text can be a fun and engaging pourquoi type of folktale (adaptation) for young children (with Blair Bent's accompanying illustrations providing a delightful and at least to and for my untrained eyes realistic appearing mirror of both Arlene Mosel’s narrative and general Chinese culture, or perhaps more precisely, ancient Chinese culture, although truth be told, there are also, it seems, multiple claims that not only the text but also the illustrations of Tikki Tikki Tembo are actually more Japanese than Chinese, something that would indeed be rather problematic, but is also something that I do not really feel I can comment on all that much, as I am in no way even remotely an expert with regard to Chinese and Japanese folklore, with regard to Chinese and Japanese culture and history).

But due to a rather (no, due to an absolutely horrible) reading aloud experience I personally had with Tikki Tikki Tembo as a child, I must unilaterally and strongly admit that I have NEVER ever liked this book, and have in fact pretty well despised it and quite vehemently so. For in grade four (in 1976) when I had as a ten year old just immigrated with my family to Canada (from Germany), and during an ESL session about two months after my siblings and I had arrived without much English and of course pretty strong German accents when we did try to speak English, our oh so enlightened ESL "teacher" decided to read Tikki Tikki Tembo aloud to the class, nothing wrong with this, of course, and in and of itself, except that she, that the ESL teacher read Tikki Tikki Tembo to us with a horrible and artificial Chinese "accent" that even to my untrained ears sounded totally like she was deliberately making fun of, that she was nastily mocking the latter (and also then expected us to imitate said accent later, seemingly when I dared to complain about this because she wanted us to learn to get rid of our and I quote "disgusting" foreign accents).

Now I am of course more than well aware of the fact that realistically speaking, author Arlene Mosel herself cannot and really should not be blamed for an ignorant and bigoted ESL instructor using her Tikki Tikki Tembo in a silly and culturally inappropriate manner. However, emotionally, my childhood experience with Tikki Tikki Tembo and how it was used to poke some rather nasty and culturally insensitive fun at not only Chinese but basically at ALL types of foreign accents still smarts a bit and gives me some rather strange flashbacks whenever I do think back to the book (especially since now, after having studied a bit of linguistics during the course of my university education, I also have to wonder whether that long name of the favoured son in Tikki Tikki Tembo is actually bona fide Chinese or just some strung together nonsense sounds the author believes could be Chinese, as there is also no supplemental information with regard to the genesis of this claimed and supposed "traditional" Chinese folk tale, no sources listed, and yes, also no way to even remotely figure out whether Tikki Tikki Tembo's long and unwieldy name is therefore really actual Chinese characters written in Latin script). And thus, and for me on a personal level, although I can definitely understand those of you who have fond memories of Arlene Mosel's repetitive and chant-like narrative, who have experienced Tikki Tikki Tembo as a positive and sweetly nostalgic childhood memory, well for me, my childhood memory of Tikki Tikki Tembo has been the exact opposite of enjoyable, has been saddening, frustrating and so haunting that I will only ever consider this book with a two star rating at best (and now rounded down to one star, as the more I do think about Tikki Tikki Tembo the more I cringe, because in my opinion, if a book can so easily be used as a culturally and racially inappropriate educational tool, then the author should even if he or she never intended this, bear at least some responsibility).

Ruby's Wish

This engaging historical story (a true account, it seems, and based on the childhood of Shirin Yim Bridges' own grandmother) tells the story of Ruby, a young Chinese girl growing up in a large household, where the enlightened patriarch (Ruby's grandfather) allows both girls and boys to be educated. Ruby however, desires more; she also wants the opportunity to attend university like her brothers and male cousins. Will her grandfather grant Ruby her wish? Will Ruby be permitted to attend university?

Ruby's Wish is both inspiring and thought-provoking and the story emphasises both the blessings Ruby enjoys (her education, the fact that her grandfather allows both his grandsons and his granddaughters to be educated) as well as some of the many challenges she faces. Her grandfather is also not only admirable and enlightened, he actually listens to Ruby, listens to her words and takes her ideas, wishes and desires seriously. And Ruby, although at first a bit shy at being summoned to her grandfather's office and somewhat chagrined that her poem about boys being considered more worthy than girls might have upset him, does have the courage to explain to her grandfather why she thinks boys are better looked after and that her greatest wish is not to get married, but to be able to attend university. When at the Chinese New Years' celebration, Ruby receives a letter of acceptance to attend university from her grandfather, I was so happy for Ruby that I had tears of joy in my eyes.

Now it must still be remembered though that Ruby is ONLY able to attend university because her grandfather, the family patriarch, is in agreement with this. If he had said "no" and/or if it had been up to Ruby's mother and the other women of the family, Ruby would not have been allowed to further her education. And I do find it rather interesting that in oh so many historical children's and young adult stories (and in both novels and picture books) about girls' education, it is sadly and unfortunately often the mothers and grandmothers who are the most vehemently opposed to this, while the fathers and grandfathers (although they do generally and usually have the last word) are often not nearly as negative and suspicious with regard to girls' education. And while I realise that this is probably a rather facile and non-nuanced assertion (as well as being somewhat of a generalisation), it nevertheless is something that I have repeatedly noticed with/in both classical girls school and college novels and historical children's literature about girls' education (and in multiple world languages at that), and is thus an attitude, a scenario, that I believe begs and requires further academic study and analysis.

And finally, regarding Sophie Blackall's illustrations, although on their own, they would likely not be entirely to my personal aesthetic tastes, I do think that they generally function as a brilliant and wonderful complement to Shirin Yim Bridges narrative, providing an authentic appearing visual account of what late 19th, early 20th century China must have been like and appeared. Furthermore, the generally muted colours, contrasted with Ruby's penchant for bright red also makes her stand out, makes her into a truly special character (not only within the text, the narrative itself, but also within the scope of the pictorial images presented).

Front Desk

Although I have for the most part very much enjoyed Kelly Yang's (semi-autobiographoical) Middle Grade immigration novel Front Desk, I am also just a wee bit conflicted regarding some of the novel's thematics and contents.

Now I do generally and for the most part very much love young Mia's first person singular narration in Front Desk. Her voice most certainly does to and for me feel and read like an authentic ten year old, although I also do at times think that Mia acts and talks perhaps just a bit too maturely and grown-up for a typical ten year old. However, that having all been said and if truth be told, young Mia is actually not really just a typical ten year old girl (for yes, Mia's experiences as a recent Chinese immigrant to the United Sates with little cash and no social safety net will have of course and sadly, unfortunately made her even at the tender age of ten much more grown-up, with more adult-type experiences and problems than what children being raised and living in more affluent families and in better areas would ever likely experience at such young ages).

But while I do definitely appreciate and applaud Mia's courage and determination in Front Desk and find her a generally delightfully relatable, entertaining and lovable main protagonist, I also and certainly must rather wonder whether Mia does for one not solve the multitude of problems that come her and her family's way (while they are managing that California motel at slave wages) just a trifle too quickly, conveniently and unproblematically and that for two, the conclusion, the ending for Front Desk is, while emotionally satisfying and making me smile, also a bit too fairy tale-like and Hollywood for my own and personal tastes and desires. And indeed, I have also found that some of the myriad of problems Mia and her family encounter tend to come across as almost a bit over-done and in one's face, almost as though author Kelly Yang has decided to have Mia and her parents experience almost everything that can go wrong for a recent Chinese immigrant family (and I for one would definitely find Front Desk more relatable and believable, a bit more realistic if the author had not just showered Mia's family with an absolute avalanche of issues and horrors and if the ending had been positive but not quite so wish-fulfillment and magical).

Animals Marco Polo Saw: An Adventure on the Silk Road

As an extensive but still basic enough and concise enough introduction in picture book format to the life and times of Marco Polo (and of course in particular to his extensive travels with his uncle and father on the so-called Silk Road and according to the book title, to the Animals Marco Polo Saw , to many of the different species of fauna the Polos encountered and observed), author Sandra Markle has in my opinion done truly an amazing job both simply and nevertheless more than adequately, informatively presenting Marco Polo as a historical figure to older children above the ages of seven or so (for while Animals Marco Polo Saw is indeed a picture book, there is in my opinion also a just bit too much detailed text, there are too many printed words to consider this for the very young, even if one were to read Animals Marco Polo Saw aloud to them). And while personally and academically, I actually would have appreciated and even wanted and required a bit more detail and historical, biological facts and information, I do in fact very much realise and understand that for the intended audience, Animals Marco Polo Saw is exactly, is totally right, and thus presents an absolutely and entirely appropriate amount of non fiction factual detail without becoming potentially distracting or overwhelming (with the fact that Sandra Markle's featured narrative is also not just dryly informational but reads both flowingly and personably, even somewhat chattily, being the textual icing on an already delicious cake).

And furthermore, Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini's accompanying illustrations, they are also and indeed quite delightfully marvelous, detailed, descriptive and simultaneously both realistic and mood inducing, complimenting and at times even supplementing the author's narrative, Sandra Markle's textual information and facts on Marco Polo, his family, his life, his travels and the diverse animals he, his uncle and father encountered and made note of on their travels to Cathay (and as such the illustrations often do in fact provide visuals that are not always included or sometimes just hinted at within the text proper, within the author's main narrative storylines). And truly, and in my humble opinion, Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini's illustrations are actually and in fact much much more than simply illustrations; they are and should be approached and considered as exquisite painterly like entities in and of themselves that move the narrative of Animals Marco Polo Saw from good to great, from interesting and readable to truly and utterly visually and aesthetically outstanding.

Now finally, while I do indeed much appreciate and laud Sandra Markle for having included supplemental research and study information that greatly increase the teaching and learning potential and value of Animals Marco Polo Saw (a glossary, books and websites, even a video on Marco Polo) I also really do wish that she had not limited herself to providing just two book and two website suggestions (as while too many examples, while too many suggestions would or at least could prove distracting and even potentially confusing, for me, just having two recommendations for further reading and for further internet exploration on Marco Polo is also more than a bit frustrating, almost as though one has been given a carrot to pursue and then having it snatched away at the last minute). But even with this minor little quibble (and potential caveat), Sandra Markle's Animals Marco Polo Saw is still and nevertheless to be highly recommended, with a strong four star ranking.

Li Lun, Lad of Courage

While I do in some if not actually in many ways consider Carolyn Treffinger's Li Lun: Lad of Courage both readable and inspiring (that is to say I find the main protagonist's, I find Li Lun's courage, his inventiveness and his skills at solving the multitude of problems that his being sent to plant and grow rice on the unforgiving and harsh mountaintop have engendered, impressive), I am also lastingly and very much angered by the father's ruthless stubbornness and that family "honour" seems to be more important and essential to and for him than even the health and welfare, the life of his son, not to mention that I am also massively annoyed by the fact that even Li Lun's mother (although definitely more sympathetic towards her son) is obviously too meek and too cowed by the father's role as pater familias to be both able and even all that willing to much intercede. And really, even considering that Li Lun: Lad of Courage is supposed to take place at a time when obeying and honouring one's parents, one's family (and family members' wishes, their demands) was likely generally totally and absolutely the accepted and required norm, for the father to not be able to even remotely comprehend and accept that Li Lun is actually and legitimately afraid of the sea, and to harshly and yes, dangerously, banish him to the mountaintop because of this (and that the father is simply unwilling to even fathom that due to his fear of the sea, Li Lun does, of course, not want to become a fisherman), all this does not only seem unnecessarily harsh to the extreme, to me and for me, it almost seems as though the father in Li Lun: Lad of Courage is actually hoping that his son will not ever come back, that Li Lun will disappear.

And while I most certainly did end up enjoying reading about Li Lun's struggles, his courage and how he survives, how he thrives and manages to plant and grow his required and demanded rice, the father's and by extension also the mother's behaviours and actions did leave and still do retain a more than slightly bitter and nasty aftertaste (not enough for me to totally despise Li Lun: Lad of Courage, but definitely enough for me to only consider a high two star rating, as even at the end of Li Lun: Lad of Courage Li Lun's father is ONLY proud and happy because his son has succeeded planting and growing the rice, and NEVER even remotely considers apologising, never considers his own nastiness and harshness towards his son as having possibly been unacceptable, that his demands and dictates of and towards his son might have been much too harsh, and were in fact potentially dangerous and therefore not at all appropriate by any and all stretches of my imagination).

Thanks for the rec's, Beverly. Manybooks, I have read several of those you reported on.

Grace Lin is so sweet and her books are great.

Laurence Yep is a very good writer. He writes about Chinese and Chinese-American characters. I read The Serpent's Children and some of the others in the series. I didn't know much about Chinese history before reading these books. Dragonwings is highly regarded (and not) but I haven't read that series.

Stacey Lee is another YA writer who does a great job sharing hidden stories about Chinese immigrants and Chinese-American characters. I dislike how she has to include a teen romance in every book, unrealistic ones at that but I like the history in her books.

Kelly Yang is a rising author in the older middle grades category. Front Desk is about Chinese immigrants struggling to make it in 1990s California. It's based on her own family experiences. She includes a bit about the family back home and how China went through enormous changes at that time.

Spring Pearl: The Last Flower I remember really liking this novel and learning a lot.

Anya's War is set in Shanghai in the 1930s and features a Russian Jewish protagonist who finds an abandonned aChinese baby and searches for the baby's mother.

One I really liked and read more than once when I was a kid is In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson more about Chinese immigrants becoming American than China and Chinese culture.

For younger readers (younger mg) The Year of the Book is a cute, sometimes funny story about a Chinese-American girl struggling being caught between two cultures- embarrassed by her mom who can't speak English very well, but not fully Chinese either.

Picture books I liked

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
You don't have to be Chinese or know what bao is to relate to this story of a intergenerational cooking and learning practice makes perfect.

There are several more for Lunar New Year listed under the New Year category.

https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/s...

Interesting article showing that unlike what many folklorists believed, the Little Red Riding Hood Tale (like Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China) did not originate in China and then traveled to Europe, but probably the other way round.

The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes
A really cute retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson tale set in old China. The author's note is excellent and informational about what happened to stories during the Maoist era.

Beverly wrote: "Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods

This fascinati..."
I finally got around to reading this and I adore it! Highly recommended whether or not you eat Chinese-American food or have kids.