My Favorites

Cheng, Andrea. Grandfather counts / by Andrea Cheng ; illustrations by Ange Zhang. New York : Lee & Low Books, 2000. Ages 4-10.

Cheng's first book explores the relationship that grows between biracial Helen and Gong Gong, her grandfather, when he come from China to live with her family. Zhang's acrylic illustrations are soft and comforting as a warm blanket.

Czech, Jan. An American face / by Jan M. Czech ; illustrated by Frances Clancy. Washington , DC : Child & Family Press, c2000. Ages 4-7.

A Korean boy, adopted by white parents thinks he will get a new face to match theirs when he becomes an American citizen. Custom borders around the illustration and text emphasize elements of the scene.

Heo, Yumi. The green frogs : a Korean folktale/ retold by Yumi Heo. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996. Ages 4-8.

Explains why naughty Korean children are called chung-gaeguri or green frogs. Cool, bursting-with-life drawings.

Recorvits, Helen. My name is Yoon / Helen Recorvits ; pictures by Gabi Swiatkowska. New York : Frances Foster Books, 2003. Ages 4-10.

Mischievous, Korean-born Yoon deals with starting school and learning English. She likes her name in Korean. It means shining wisdom. She is not so sure she likes YOON, her name written in English. The illustrations are stark, rich, and playful.

Say, Allen. A River Dream / Allen Say. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston 1988. Ages 6-10.

Mark, a sick boy, receives a small box of fishing flies from his uncle in the mail.  The flies become mayflies that lure him out his city bedroom window into a mountain river landscape. He takes a boat up the river and sees his uncle, Scott.  He teaches Mark lessons of fishing and life. The ethnicity of the boy and his uncle is not clear. It is a magical story showing an Asian American family just being normal people. The understated multicultural message is refreshing and the illustrations are dreamily, realistic looking watercolors. A River Dream is one of my favorite books.

Say, Allen. Tree of Cranes. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991. Ages 4-8.

This is an apparently autobiographical story of Mr. Says' first Christmas. The story starts with a young boy playing by his neighbor's koi pond, even though his mother has told him many times not to play there. He catches a chill and his mother sends him to take a bath and then to bed. There are many accurate, but subtle cultural activities shown. He bathes in a large wooden tub. He sleeps in a futon on the tatami mats. He eats rice gruel and green tea when he is feeling ill. This store gently introduces traditional culture by weaving it into the story. Eventually, we see the boy's mother bring in a potted fur tree. She decorates the tree with origami cranes and candles. She tells the boy that she grew up in California and that today is Christmas. She explains the customs of decorating trees, giving presents, and says Christmas is a holiday of peace and love. Snow falls during the night and the boy and his father make a yukidaruma (snowman), which in Japanese fashion, has only two snowballs. The illustrations are realistic watercolor paintings. This is a multicultural story taking place in Japan where there is little diversity.