Grace Lin

Grace Lin brings the Chinese New Year traditions to life through the eyes of a young girl and her family as they prepare for their family New Year celebration. Vivid color and bold line illustrate their planning which concludes with a dragon and noisemaking for a joyful celebration of this special Chinese festival.

A Chinese family goes out for dim sum ("little dishes"), choosing their favorites off the restaurant cart and sharing with each other. The illustrations evoke the textures and patterns in this traditional meal, and an endnote provides background on the cultural history and customs surrounding dim sum.

The family's meal finishes with fortune cookies, the daughters' favorite part of eating out! They share their fortunes as their engaging look at the world shines through in the simple narration and boldly colored, entertaining illustrations.

The young narrator describes how she and her family each contribute to a handsome kite which they then enjoy flying. Signature illustrations show traditional Chinese kite designs combined with an author's note about kite history. The result is the celebration of an ebullient family tradition that readers may want to take up themselves!

Even though Ling and Ting are identical twins, they are not the same. How they differ becomes clear in short chapters in this winning book just right for new readers. These charismatic sisters are depicted in word and illustration with humor and affection.

Ling & Ting are twins. They share a birthday. They bake cakes, and they make birthday wishes. They tell stories and wrap gifts. They also share a birthday secret! The simple text and colorful art makes this early reader a perfect choice for children learning to read.

Ling and Ting have fun, rain or shine, in the fourth book of this irresistible early reader series. Whether they are huddling together during a thunderstorm or out searching for rainbows, they are sure to make readers smiles with their funny adventures.
 

Lissy is new at school and so makes a small origami friend to keep her company and to help her feel braver. A new friendship starts when Lissy's lost paper crane is returned. Children will empathize with Lissy's loneliness and her quiet coping in this appealing story.

Product Description: When Olvina gets invited to the Tenth Annual Bird Convention in Hawaii, she decides it's high time to overcome her fear of flying. But on the day of her big plane trip, Olvina's tummy is filled with butterflies and she has second thoughts. After all, chickens aren't supposed to fly. Or are they? This tender and funny story is for children who love to fly as well as those who have not yet had the experience.

The Chinese-American girl introduced in Round Is a Mooncake (2000) and Red Is a Dragon (2001, both Chronicle) counts her favorite things. In bouncy verse, she engages in activities with her multicultural friends and family…A glossary gives two-sentence explanations for the Asian elements, from Eight Immortals to mahjong tiles, adding versatility and ethnic interest to the book without intruding on its simplicity. — School Library Journal

A closer look at the four seasons is presented through questions and answers (“Does everyone have four seasons?”) and evocative poems. Large illustrations depict the unique wonders of each time of year.

Product Description: In this lively concept book a little girl discovers a rainbow of colors in the world around her. Red is a dragon in the Chinese New Year parade, yellow are the taxis she sees on her street, green are jade bracelets and the crunchy kale growing in her garden. Many of the featured objects are Asian in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-read rhyming text and an informative glossary, this colorful book will brighten every child's day!

A girl discovers things that are round, square, and rectangular in her urban neighborhood. A gently rhyming text and crisply lined illustrations reveal many things that are universally recognizable as well as others that come from the child's Chinese background.

Sisters each use their special talent while working together to save the sister who was snatched by a not-too-scary dragon. Uncluttered illustrations add detail to the crisply told original tale likely inspired by a Chinese folktale.
Country of origin: China
 

In this short book for beginning readers, a young Korean boy and girl share all of the different ways they like to eat rice, which are presented in colorful illustrations done by Grace Lin. A teacher's guide with early reading activities is available from the Lee and Low website. Also available in Spanish.

Where on earth did Yum Yung get the urge to have a bagel? He has no idea, but desperate for one, he sends a message from his Korean village via pigeon to New York City for someone to send him one. While he waits, he asks the farmer, the fisherman, and the honeybee keeper for help, but none of them have ever heard of a bagel. Just after Yum Yung reaches Oh's Heavenly Bakery, the bird returns without a bagel, but with the recipe…With charming gouache illustrations that evoke the intricate and colorful patterns found in Korean fabrics, this story mixes up cultures quite nicely.

Whether it is basketball dreams, family fiascos, first crushes, or new neighborhoods, this bold anthology—written by the best children’s authors and published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) — celebrates the uniqueness and universality in all of us. For more great stories, see the WNDB anthology Fresh Ink.