other Be Careful when Speaking Chinese comics, other Study Chinese comics.
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other Be Careful when Speaking Chinese comics, other Study Chinese comics.
Christmas is upon us and the Year of the Dragon is coming soon! We scoured Amazon and put together a big list for this Christmas for all the kids out there who are interested in China, Chinese or even chopsticks! All these books are available on Amazon but from the title ($5.00) they are all either 5 bucks or lower from third party sellers, in other words Used or lightly used. But I’ve bought so many books now from third party groups and they’re all the same! So without much further ado, let’s get on with it!
1. Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes
I got this book a while back for my nieces and nephews. They really liked it because of its fun drawings and lively pictures. Great name because I love dumplings!
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I got this one from the library a while back. It was an interesting book and it seemed to be very much from a foreigner perspective.
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40 Activities for children so that they can “dig in” to China. They mention though that China has 4,000 years of history. Most Chinese would ask, whatever happened to the 1,000 more years that you cut out?
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7. The Giant Panda: Discovering China
Not a book about Kung Fu Panda which is what is all over the place nowadays. But this book was written by a Chinese environmental scientist and expert on Pandas. So there’s no doubt that this book is filled with fun facts for those interested in the Giant Panda. You can get the hardcover for less than 1 dollar!
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8. D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet
Another alphabet book. No wonder so many kids ask me about the Chinese alphabet. There are already 3 of these kinds of books on our list and there are more I’m sure. The author has done other alphabet books and this is a perfect book for those who need to be read to and those who can read on their own.
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9. Chinatown
This book is full of color and shows the real diversity in Chinatown. A great way to add to the inherent mystique of such a place for children and adults alike. Written and illustrated by a Parson’s graduate and a teacher at the School of Visual Arts.
10. The Emperor’s New Clothes: A Tale set in China
The Hans Christian Andersen classic set in old provincial China. Though the end doesn’t show the emperor losing face by walking around in his birthday suit, it is detailed and tons of fun on the 10th read!
11. Life in San Francisco’s Chinatown
A great book about history for kids. The photos are real and a treasure trove for historians and kids alike. It tells of children and adults in their normal days in Chinatown in the 1800s and 1900s. Can be purchased for $1.78
12. My Chinatown: One Year in Poems
“If you have money in your pocket, you never go hungry in Chinatown.” So says the author and poet in this unique blend of poems and art about Chinatown. The author himself was an immigrant from Hong Kong to the US. This book is only $.06 yeah, six cents.
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13. The Yangtze: China’s Majestic River (Rivers Around the World)
Yes, it’s one of those series type books that you see in the library and don’t get, yet you go home and end up looking on Wikipedia when you need info about the Yangtze River! Informative and filled with fascinating facts about the 3rd longest river in the world. I’ve seen close to the source (Chongqing) near the end (Nanjing) and the end (Chongming Island/Shanghai). COOL!
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14. Tales of a Chinese Grandmother: 30 Traditional Tales from China
From “The God who lived in the Kitchen” to “The Daughter of the Dragon King” this hefty book of 300 pages is a great read aloud book or one ready for a challenge. The stories will stay with you for a long time and some readers have said that they learned so much from this book even though they grew up in a Chinese home!
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15. Kids like me in China
A Chinese adoption story about going back to where the child was born and meeting friends who you would’ve grown up with. Fascinating idea that attempts to allow kids to take control of their own destiny. The book contains photos of the actual orphanage in China where the child was adopted from.
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16. The Year of the Tiger: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac
Another series book with some amazing illustrations. The story is about a girl who befriends a tiger (or the other way around) where the kids have fun listening to the story, looking at the pictures and for further study they can find all the other animals from the Chinese Zodiac! This book is pretty cheap but there is Year of the Dragon
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17. Exploring Chinatown: A Children’s Guide to Chinese Culture
This colorful guide to Chinese culture gives children a glimpse into the bustling area of many cities otherwise known as Chinatown! There is a food section, health section and religion section.
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18. Find Out About China: Learn Chinese Words and Phrases and About Life in China
Another series books that teaches kids what a normal life is like in China along with a section about language. One reader says that it depicts Chinese as they are today rather than a long time ago.
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19. The Great Wall of China
This book contains some amazing black white and gray art. Almost MacCauleyesque in its detail it shows the history and building of one of the wonders of the ancient world! You can get this book for a penny. Plus shipping! WOW!
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20. China ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of China (Country ABCs)
Yet another China ABC book. From Kites to Bicycles. But some readers thought that M is for Mao Zedong was too Chinese for them. Q is for Qing Dynasty which is also very historical. You can get a used paperback for $3 or a new paperback for $3!
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This is from an amazing young lady who is an amazing painter and talented artist. Many rave about this book and in particular one third grade teacher recommends it when teaching about art and Asian art. Only 1 penny!
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A great story showing the similarities of a kindergarten in Schenectady, NY and Beijing China. COOL! Only a children’s book could show you this! The front cover shows you the American school and the back cover is hilarious and shows the school in Beijing!
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There are some issues with this book and the review on Amazon doesn’t hold back. Apparently there are comments in the book that the food in Chinatown is from another planet and that the New Year’s Festival is more frightening than festive. But this book is 1 penny, so who cares!
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Lush illustrations of the old tale of a Chinese princess forced to leave the palace and her family and her country to marry a person far away to fulfill some political purposes. She apparently brings silk worms with her and the rest is history.
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This book is from a big collection by the Shanghai Film and Animation studio which tells the classic tale of cooperation. One monk will get the water, 2 monks will help but when 3 monks go and get the water, chaos ensues.
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We have other lists on Amazon that have to do with China if you want a more stimulating stuff.
Religion in China List
Chinese History List
More Children’s Book about China
China Book List
There’s a podcast out there for all you Sinophiles if you haven’t seen it yet. The Chinese History Podcast by Lazlo Montgomery is a jewel of a podcast in the caverns of iTunes and the interwebs. If you haven’t heard of it or if you haven’t gone over to his site we would highly recommend it. Even MX likes his podcast and she can learn two things: history of her own country (not that she doesn’t know it but it’s 5,000 years, you can’t know it all!) and she can practice her English comprehension. Mr. Montgomery clearly enjoys doing the show and loves imparting knowledge to all of his fans worldwide.Lazlo Montgomery: The initial inspiration was Bob Packett from the History According to Bob podcast. He seemed like an ordinary guy in Kansas City who did this interesting thing by the seat of his pants and totally for the love of the subject matter and the process. After catching wind of a few more history podcasts and after waiting in vain for someone else to cover China, I opted to try it myself. No one else would do it and so far no one has started any alternative to the CHP. I thought a blog was too presumptuous of me in the face of all the real experts in China and the great writers of history. My target is the person who is interested in China but probably won’t read a history book….or maybe even a China blog. So an mp3 seemed the most suitable medium for this little idea.
Lazlo Montgomery: I wish I knew. Last night at a family function one of the brother-in-law’s told me there is a plug-in where you can get stats on your iTunes activity. I don’t know if it’s 17 or 17 million. It’s probably closer to 17. The show always seems to be in the top 200 in the iTunes Store for the education category against some stiff competition. In the China iTunes Store it seems to do quite good. But how good, I have no idea. My technical skills are limited unfortunately and no friends or relatives that I can rely on for free help.
Lazlo Montgomery: Since the day I started this I have not gotten one negative email from anyone. They are always without fail, appreciative and filled with praise in one form or another. I even have professors, journalists and scientists who listen and tell me how much they like it. I’m amazed. I also get some good ideas for topics. Basically everyone is either Chinese thanking me for helping them polish up on their history and for the English practice or they are Westerners who just love China and want to learn or Westerners in China who just listen to see who is this strange guy?
Lazlo Montgomery: Two times that I know of. First was in discussing the Chu-Han Contention between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. I wrongly said 楚河汉河 instead of 楚河汉界. One of my Ningbo colleagues told me that one. I have been too lazy to go back and change it. But it’s on my list of things to do. The second one involved mispronouncing Laozi’s name. I said the 子 should be neutral but a Chinese listener informed me 应该是第三声. I’m sure here and there I made a mistake or used the wrong tone when I mention the Chinese name for something. I have an OCD about accuracy so I strive to give the facts.
Lazlo Montgomery: I just made an “executive decision” not to include these in the podcast. Like in the Hart episode, if it’s something particularly worth mentioning, I’ll do it. But for the most part I have a rather large China history library and all these internet resources. One of my intentions is to put a page up on my site listing every single volume in my library with comments about which ones are particular good.
Lazlo Montgomery: My daughter is in her 2nd year at Berkeley and she calls me up groaning about an essay or paper that is due. I tell her I write a dang 8 to 10 page paper every single week so she isn’t going to get any sympathy from me. I do all the research, note-taking, writing, proofreading and double checking tones, recording, editing and uploading. No one helps me. I improvise over the script or whatever you want to call it. If you listen to my podcasts, they’re pretty straight-forward and I limit the editorializing and comments.
Lazlo Montgomery: May 1979 I saw an ad in the Daily Illini offering 2 semesters of Mandarin in an intensive summer school course. So I stayed down in Champaign, IL during that summer and began my education. China had just tied the knot with the US in January and Deng’s reforms were just getting underway. The talk back in 1979-1980 was that sky’s the limit between US and China. I dreamed to work for the Foreign Service. But since 1989 I have worked for Chinese companies and have used Mandarin in my daily life so it never went stale on me and I keep learning a new word, phrase or whatever all the time. Compared to some of these guys I listen to (like on the Sinica Podcast), I’m like a pre-schooler. Those guys are my Mandarin heroes!
Lazlo Montgomery: Wikipedia is good for dates and checking Pinyin and tones. Usually I go to the bottom of the article and they list links to all their sources. They’re from all over the place and I am too lazy to take note where I get what. Google Books is invaluable. Mostly I use these books in my library and the internet usually is just a supplement.
Lazlo Montgomery: I use Jonathon D. Spence, John King Fairbank, F.W. Mote the most. Then I have a whole bunch of other books but those three are my stalwarts.
Lazlo Montgomery: To me and to so many other westerners it is interesting because it is both exotic and everyday at the same time. It’s so long and filled with all kinds of interesting stuff. I believe (and I’m finding) there’s a huge pool of citizens all over the world who have this latent interest in all things China. My little production is simply my two cents that I throw out there to help shore up the bridge of understanding between China and the US (or the west).
2. Li Ka Shing – wealthiest Chinese in the world
