New Year

Zihan, Mei. New Year. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2021.
Can you miss someone who is far away and at the same time be happy for them? In this wistful picture book, a father thinks about his grown-up daughter who lives in Paris. He wishes she could be back home with him in Beijing for Chinese Lunar New Year. But he is also proud that she has grown up into an independent person who has her own life in France. This extraordinarily beautiful story – evocatively illustrated in ink and watercolour by Qin Leng – is for mature readers who are able to see life from more than one point of view. 

Teachers of creative writing may want to use this story to show how to subtly move from speaking about a person to addressing them directly. Teachers of literature may want to show how specific cultural details can be combined with universal emotions to create a story with timeless appeal. 

This year, Chinese Lunar New Year is on January 23rd. 

More sophisticated picture books 

More stories from China 

Alone Like Me

Evans, Rebecca. Alone Like Me. New York: Anne Schwartz Books, 2022.
Life is lonely for Liling when she moves to the city. Her parents have to take her along to their places of work, and she has to spend her days quietly not being noticed. When her father takes her to a park, she has to endure taunts from other children. But then she meets another lonely little girl and a gentle friendship begins. Set in China, this picture book shows what life is like for children who are not entitled to an education when they move from the place where they were born. A glossary and pronunciation guide are included, as well as an afterward telling more about life for children who move from rural to urban settings. Recommended for readers 6 to 11 years old.

More stories about moving to a new home

More stories set in China

A Song for China

Zhang, Ange. A Song for China: How My Father Wrote Yellow River Cantata. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2019.
A fascinating account of the author’s father, a writer who used his art and writing to fight for social justice in China. Illustrated with photographs and wood-block style illustrations and  supplemented by the English and Chinese words of the cantata, this 54-page biography is highly recommended for readers 14-years-old and up who want to expand their understanding of Chinese history.

Red Butterfly

Noyes Deborah. Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2007.
A Chinese princess secretly takes along silkworm cocoons and mulberry seeds when she is sent to marry the king of Khotan. This exquisite picture book – illustrated by Sophie Blackall – includes a two-page explanation of the legends surrounding the history of silk-making. Highly recommended for readers 7 years old and up. 

The poetic description of everything the princess will miss when she has to leave her home is reminiscent of Shi-shi-etko by Nicola Campbell (Groundwood, 2005). Readers – and teachers – might like to compare the five senses details in the two stories.

Then, try writing your own descriptive sentences. Find techniques and examples HERE.

If you want to try writing a descriptive paragraph, see the writing at the end of a student’s literary analysis of The Colours of British Columbia by David Bouchard (Raincoast Books, 1994) HERE.

More stories about China

A Chinese childhood…

Liu, Na and Andrés Vera Martínez. Little White Duck: a Childhood in China. Minneapolis: Graphic Universe, 2012.
Da Qin and her younger sister live with their parents in the city of Wuhan, China. This thought-provoking graphic novel – composed of 8 short stories – describes the author’s childhood in the 1970s. Emotive illustrations by the author’s husband – Andrés Vera Martínez – help to create a powerful portrait of life for two little girls in a changing world. Recommended for competent readers 9 years old and up.

More picture book memoirs

More graphic novels

More stories set in Asia

More stories of poverty

Living Through War

McMullan, James. Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin, 2014.

Do you ever feel like you’re not quite good enough? That you can’t ever please your parents? That you don’t belong anywhere? Read this memoir about an artist who grew up moving from country to country – from China to Canada to India and finally to the U.S.A. – and who is now a highly acclaimed designer and illustrator. This 113-page autobiography with full-page illustrations is recommended for readers 10 years old and up.

More picture book memoirs HERE

More stories about moving HERE  

More stories about World War II HERE

Demi. The Shady Tree. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2016.
Wealthy Tan Tan lives in a beautiful home with a lovely shady tree which he does not want to share. After poor Ping uses the little money he has to buy that shade, Tan Tan discovers  he’s sold more than he expected.  Kind Ping, though, does share and all turns out well in this Chinese folktale for readers 7 to 14 years old. [China; Folklore; Greed; Sharing]

More philosophical books HERE.