5 Kids’ Books by Asian-American Authors

A friend of mine wrote and illustrated this book for new moms: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Day-Something-New-Doodles/dp/0578441446. It’s endearingly sweet and though I’m not a mom myself yet, I can only imagine I will experience these funny things with my future children!

When my kids were really little, they enjoyed the board books by Joyce Wan. The illustrations are very Japanese pop culture inspired and exceptionally cute. Plus there’s one about dragons. :)

One of my close friends from high school – and incredible woman – Christina Soontornvat – writes wonderful children’s stories. Even though my children are too little for it now, I have read and adored “A Wish in the Dark,” an adaptation of “Les Miserables” set in Thailand. I’ve also started “All Thirteen,” a beautifully constructed and written book about the rescue of the boys’ soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand. I’m incredibly proud to know her. And she just learned that both are 2021 Newbery Honor Books!

We love the book Pool by JiHyeon Lee. It’s a story without written words and allows for a lot of creative conversations. https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781452142944

When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller – my 10 year old loved this book. It is best as a tween/middle grade read.

We love “the Normal Pig” by K-Fai Steele about a (half Asian) piglet who grows up in a pretty white space – super wonderful for thinking about some of the things that come up for kids that may not look like one or both of their parents (eg one of the pigs at school asks the main character “is that your babysitter?” “No that’s my mom” the main pig kid answers)

Haven’t read all the comments, so maybe this has already been said, but the Ruby Lu books by Lenore Look are some of our most favorite. Made me laugh out loud reading them with our kids in their early elementary years, such good lessons on kindness and bring true to yourself too.

Thanks for sharing these books and opening up this message thread, Joanna! We’re Woods in the Books, an indie bookshop in Singapore and we published a counting book which might be of interest to parents with young kids who would like to introduce concepts of diversity and inclusivity, on top of learning numbers 1 – 12! It serves to teach the kids who are learning to notice the differences between themselves and friends that we are all the same, no matter our skin colour, or the language we speak. You may check it our here: https://www.woodsinthebooks.sg/collections/homegrown-stories/products/friends-counting-book
(also available on Amazon)

J. kenji lopez-alt’s – every night is pizza night – a great book about food & community & trying new things.

the big winner in our home is hands down – lion dancer: Ernie wan’s Chinese New Year. It was published in 1990 by scholastic & it is the most requested book in our home. My toddler will happily read this book several times a day for several weeks at a time. It’s reminiscent of an old time magazine photo spread detailing a Chinese American family’s celebration on New Years in New York’s Chinatown. Hooray for Ernie wan!

I just picked up Maki Saito’s picture book “Animals Brag About Their Bottoms” and it is absolutely delightful! Her illustrations, using a traditional Japanese dyeing technique, are super unique.

Thank you for highlighting these beautiful books and authors – so excited to read and gift them to the little ones in my life.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin – it is so, so good!

Here’s a wonderful list of 63 middle grade books by Asian/Asian-American authors. https://readingmiddlegrade.com/asian-middle-grade-books/

Lily Lo and the Wonton Maker by Frances Lee Hall. The author was a classmate of mine in grad school. She passed away at far too young an age, but left this wise middle grade book.

We really enjoyed Paper Son by Julie Leung, about an immigrant’s story and his rise as a Disney artist.
Also Ojiichan’s Gift by Chieri Uegaki, about a young Japanese girl who loves to visit her grandfather in Japan.

Laxmi’s Mooch by Shelley Anand is FANTASTIC. About a little girl discovering-and learning to love-her mooch (mustache). I can’t rave about it enough. Body positivity, celebrating differences, cultural appreciation….and funny!

Tarō Gomi! I use his Over the Ocean book for children’s programming and just checked out Bus Stops from the library for my little guy. Beautiful pictures and simple stories from Japan.

Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong-American writer who has books for adults AND picture books!

https://kaokaliayang.com/

For anyone who is seeking out more resources about the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, a great place to start is Liz Kleinrock (@teachandtransform on IG and Twitter) and @SmithsonianAAPI. Liz has great book recommendations (most of them already shared here) for all ages and connects her followers with content and resources to become more knowledgeable about non-White centric content.

I’d love to see her featured here for one of the columns or her own feature!

Hello!
Although I am 25 years old, I LOVE being able to see childrens books that represent kids that look like I do or experiences that I have.

For kids books, My new favorite is “My Day with Gong Gong, by Sennah Yee”.
In addition, I reread “Kira-kira by Cynthia Kadohata” when I was a teenager. And now that I have grown up a little bit, I love working though Wayson Choi’s novels.

I am loving the books that readers are suggesting and cannot wait to add some of them to my collection.

Some of these have been mentioned in the comments but bear repeating anyway! And some may be out of print but the library should have them. All wonderful for different reasons!

Children of the River by LInda Crew (YA)
The Clay Marble by Mingfong Ho (8-11)
The Emperor and The Kite by Jane Yolen (5-7)
Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne wakatsuki Houston and James Houston (YA)
The Girl-Son by Anne Neuberger (8-11)
Goodbye, Vietnam by Gloria Whelan (8-11)
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (8-11)
A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida (8-11)
Lon Po-Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China translated by Ed Young ( preschool)
Meiko and the Fifth Treasure by Eleanor Coerr (5-7)
So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins (YA)
The Squiggle by Carole Lee Schaefer (preschool)
The Star Fisher by Laurence Yep (8-11)
Tye May and The Magic Brush by Molly Garrett Bang (5-7)
Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi (YA)

Any and all books by Grace Lin!

Also chapter books by Andrea Cheng and Gene Yuan.

Love the Superbeetle rec for my 8 year old reading fanatic who’s in Mandarin immersion at school. I would love any similar recs that have Chinese language and culture elements!

The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida. It tells the story of a young girl being sent to a Japanese Interment Camp with her family. It is a really beautiful story about friendship but also covers an American history topic that we didn’t learn in school.

For middle-grade readers, we love The Comeback by EL Shen!