Books for Babies and Toddlers about Chinese Culture

            

As I perused my local library for new books to read my kids, I stumbled upon Round as a Mooncake: a book of shapes (Chronicle Books, 2000) and Red Is a Dragon: a book of colors (Chronicle Books, 2001), written by Roseanne Thong and illustrated by Grace Lin.  Here's a quick review in case you are searching for a good book with themes of Chinese culture for your baby or toddler.

They are two books of a three-part series that introduces basic concepts (shapes, colors, and numbers) to young children in a multi-cultural (Asian and Western) context. I was bummed that my library didn't have the third in this series is One is a Drummer: a book of numbers (Chronicle Books 2003).

With their beautiful illustrations and lilting text, I would have loved to have read these books to my children when they were little.  According to her website, Thong's inspiration for these books was her own daughter, Maya. She wanted to read books about shapes they found in Hong Kong but could find none that fit this description so she wrote Round as a Mooncake. This was followed by Red Is a Dragon, a story about colors, and One is a Drummer, a book about numbers. 

What I love about these books:

• Grace Lin's illustrations. I can't help it. I adore Grace Lin's illustrations; they are a feast for the eyes with vibrant colors, beautiful patterns and scenes full of charming details.
• Basic colors, shapes, and numbers are introduced using things commonly found in Hong Kong, China, or even a Chinese American family: a yellow incense stick, a round rice bowl, one dragon boat.
• The rhyming text is sing-songy (in a good way) and decorated with fun phrases like "crunchy kale" and "a bowl of goldfish."
• At the end of each book is an author's note where Chinese items mentioned in the story are defined and explained, making these books accessible for non-Chinese families as well. 

 Which multi-cultural books do you enjoy reading to your baby or toddler?