10 Must-Read Authentic Children’s Books that Celebrate Chinese Culture
Children need to read books that they can see themselves reflected in (mirrors), and books that allow them to see a world that might be different from the one they’re familiar with (windows).
When children read books with characters they can relate to, they feel their culture is being recognized, which gives them a sense of belonging. On the other hand, books that serve as windows will enable them to see a range of possibilities in the world, which helps them to be open-minded. Read more about mirrors vs. windows by Emily Style on the National SEED Project website.
The 10 books below are carefully selected by our Chinese educators, so they’re guaranteed to be authentic.
Red Is a Dragon
Ages: 4 - 7 years
This is a great book for children to learn about colors and connect different colors with real life things!
The young girl in the story finds a rainbow of colors in her everyday life. Students can have a fun scavenger hunt in the classroom or at home to find different colors in their life.
Round Is a Mooncake
Ages: 4 - 7 years
This is a great book for children to learn about shapes and connect different shapes with traditional Asian symbols such as mooncake, radish cake and red envelope.
Students can have a fun scavenger hunt in the classroom or at home to find different shapes. They can also record and gather their data to create a bar graph.
Kite Flying
Ages: 4 - 7 years
This book celebrates the Chinese tradition of kite making and kite flying. The family in the story bonded by creating a smiling dragon together and they had a lot of fun!
Students can talk about fun things they like to do with their family, and compare and contrast the character’s experience and their own experience.
Dim Sum for Everyone!
Ages: 4 - 7 years
Celebrate Chinese cultures by reading about traditional Chinese food - dim sum!
Students can relate to their personal experience of visiting a restaurant and have a discussion about special food in their cultures.
Fortune Cookie Fortunes
Ages: 4- 8 years
In the story, the girl’s favorite part of going to a Chinese restaurant is the fortune, and she believes that the fortune will come true.
Your students can make fortune cookie crafts, and you can get real fortune cookies from local Chinese restaurants. First-hand experience!
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
Ages: 4 - 8 years
Another great book for students to learn about Chinese food! Amy was the only one in her family who couldn’t make a perfect bao, but she didn’t give up.
Students can talk about one time they tried to make something but failed at the beginning, and how their feelings changed from the beginning to the end.
Listen to the author Kat Zhang reads her own book and tells the story behind it!
Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon
Ages: 4 - 8 years
Great book for recognizing the uniqueness of every culture.
Students can relate to Amy’s experience that the dragon in her culture looks different from the ones in her teacher’s book, and brainstorm different solutions.
I Dream of Popo
Ages: 4 - 8 years
Many new immigrant children came to the United States and became separate from some family members like grandparents.
This book talks about how a girl who moved to the United States misses her grandmother in Taiwan. Students can make text-to-self connections and talk about relationships with people in their family.
Check the book activity kit created by the author Livia Blackburne.
Two Bicycles in Beijing
Ages: 4 - 8 years
This is a wonderful book about bicycles, friendship and landmarks in Beijing.
While listening to the interesting adventures of the two bicycles, Lunzi and Huangche, your students can make predictions of what might happen next, and confirm their predictions.
Ruby’s Wish
Ages: 8 - 12 years
This is an excellent book to teach students about women pioneers and how girls made a difference in old China.
Your students can talk about gender equity and how the society’s expectation of girls have changed (or not) in their cultures.
You can also start a discussion about what it means to be successful, and what made Ruby successful.
Please consider supporting the authors and publishers by purchasing the books. The books will make great treasures in your classroom, and there is nothing better than holding a real book and turning the pages.