Good Reads

Book Lists - Chinese Culture and Folklore

• Count Your Way through China by Jim Haskins - Presents the numbers one through ten in Chinese, using each number to introduce concepts about China and Chinese culture.
• Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young - Three sisters staying home alone are endangered by a hungry wolf who is disguised as their grandmother.
• A Ticket to China by Janet Riehecky - Discusses the people, geography, history, religion, language, customs, lifestyle, and culture of the third largest country in the world.
• Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan by Lu Chi Fa with Becky White - Tells the story of the author's struggles after being orphaned at the age of three and how he held on to his dream of coming to the United States as he passed from one relative to another.
• Life in Ancient China by Amy Allison - Discusses life in China primarily during the Han dynasty, describing the life of farmers, life in a city, life in the military, business practices, the arts, and more.
• Marco Polo: A Journey through China by Fiona Macdonald - Describes Marco Polo's travels through Asia, and discusses the people and cultures he encountered.
• Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun's Kung Fu by Emily Arnold McCully - Tells the story of two unlikely kung fu masters and how their skill in martial arts saves them both.
• Ties that Bind, Ties that Break: A Novel by Lensey Namioka. - Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society by refusing to have her feet bound.
• Oranges on Golden Mountain by Elizabeth Partridge - When hard times fall on his family, Jo Lee is sent from China to San Francisco, where he helps his uncle fish and dreams of being reunited with his mother and sister.
• White Tiger, Blue Serpent by Grace Tseng - When his mother's beautiful brocade is snatched away by a greedy goddess, a young Chinese boy faces many perils as he attempts to get it back.
• The Great Wall by Elizabeth Mann - The story of thousands of miles of earth and stone that turned a nation into a fortress. Examines the building of the Great Wall of China and the thousands of years of conflict that preceded it.
• People's Republic of China by Kim Dramer - Describes the geography, plants and animals, history, economy, language, religions, culture, and people of the People's Republic of China, home of one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations.
• Red Eggs and Dragon Boats: Celebrating Chinese Festivals by Carol Stepanchuk. - Includes the Chinese lunar New Year, Clear Brightness festival, Full-month red egg and ginger party, Dragon Boat festival and Moon festival.
• Happy New Year! : Kung-hsi fa-ts'ai! by Demi - Examines the customs, traditions, foods, and lore associated with the celebration of Chinese New Year.
• Traditions from China by Shelby Mamdani - Describes a variety of festivals, types of music, foods, and customs of China.
• The People of China and Their Food by Ann L. Burckhardt - Describes food customs and preparation in China, regional dishes, and cooking techniques; includes recipes for a variety of meals.
• Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year by Kate Waters and Madeline Slovenz-Low - Describes six-year-old Ernie Wan's preparations, at home and in school, for the Chinese New Year celebrations and his first public performance of the lion dance.
• In the Park by Huy Voun Lee - On the first day of spring, a mother and her son go to the park where they draw Chinese characters that represent words relating to the season.
• Nim and the War Effort by Milly Lee - In her determination to prove that a Chinese-American can win a contest for the war effort, Nim does something which leaves her Chinese grandfather both bewildered and proud.
• The American Wei by Marion Hess Pomeranc - When Wei Fong loses his first tooth while going to his family's naturalization ceremony many soon-to-be Americans join in the search.
• Round is a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong - As a little girl discovers things round, square, and rectangular in her urban neighborhood, she is reminded of her Chinese American culture.
• 1,2,3 Go! by Huy Voun Lee - An introduction to Chinese writing describing the construction, meaning, and pronunciation of simple characters used for a variety of words and the numbers one through ten.
• The Dragon New Year: A Chinese Legend by Dave Bouchard - Frightened into sleeplessness by the noisy celebration of the Chinese New Year, a young girl takes comfort in her grandmother's soothing story of a dragon, a mother's sorrow, and Buddha.
• Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story From China retold by Ai-Ling Louie - This version of the Cinderella story, in which a young girl overcomes the wickedness of her stepsister and stepmother to become the bride of a prince, is based on ancient Chinese manuscripts written 1000 years before the earliest European version.
• Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior by Robert D. San Souci - A retelling of the original Chinese poem in which a brave young girl masquerades as a boy and fights the Tartars in the Khan's army.
• The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale by Laurence Yep - A poor farmer's youngest daughter agrees to marry a fierce dragon in order to save her father's life.

 

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