In honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Month, let\u2019s discuss our favorite picture books, novels, poetry, etc that feature Asian-American or Pacific Islander characters, whether they are recently published or familiar classics.\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for some recently published titles to add to your collection, you can\u2019t go wrong with these excellent selections:<\/p>\n
Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream (2011)<\/p>\n
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This is one of the most delightful and charming books I\u2019ve read this year; I simply adore it. Clara Lee, a young Korean-American, has a typically eventful year for a third grader, the highlight of which is her town\u2019s annual Little Miss Apple Pie Princess competition.\u00a0 Determined to win, Clara works hard on the speech she must give in front of her entire school, but meets a formidable opponent, who declares that she is more deserving of the title due to her family\u2019s deep roots in the community.\u00a0 There are definitely lessons learned in this story, but they\u2019re all conveyed so skillfully and winningly that the story never teeters dangerously into didacticism.\u00a0 Short chapters, black-and-white illustrations, and honest portrayals of family and school life will win over beginning chapter book readers.<\/p>\n
Duck for Turkey Day (2009)<\/p>\n
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Keep this one in mind if you\u2019re looking for multicultural stories centered on Thanksgiving. Vietnamese-American Tuyet learns that turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving; when she learns that duck, not turkey, will be the guest of honor at their Thanksgiving table, she is worried. It\u2019s not that she doesn\u2019t enjoy duck; it\u2019s just that it\u2019s different from her classmates. When she returns to her classroom after Thanksgiving, she wonders about her classmates\u2019 reactions when they find out that she had duck for Thanksgiving.\u00a0 Tuyet is surprised and delighted to find out that she wasn\u2019t the only to enjoy a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal; indeed, some classmates had lamb, tofu, roast beef, and enchiladas at their celebration. It\u2019s a welcome alternative to Thanksgiving picture books.<\/p>\n
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu (2011)<\/p>\n
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Lucy Wu thought that her sixth grade year was going to be awesome; sister Regina was off to college and she finally had her own room! That is, until Yi Po, her grandmother\u2019s sister, arrives from China for an extended stay. Lucy\u2019s parents are also making her attend Chinese school, and she has to endure mean girl antics from another student.\u00a0 This is a fantastic book that deals realistically with sibling issues, cultural identity and bullying; the fact that it does so while remaining a winning and positive read makes this a terrific choice for tween readers.\u00a0 The changing and deepening relationship between Lucy and Yi Po is also a lovely intergenerational story.<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s your turn! I didn\u2019t discuss novels in verse like All the Broken Pieces or the even more recent Inside Out and Back Again, or mention any folktales.\u00a0 Do you have any favorites that honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Month? Do you have any special story times or book-related programs for the month? Let\u2019s discuss in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Month, let\u2019s discuss our favorite picture books, novels, poetry, etc that feature Asian-American or Pacific Islander characters, whether they are recently published or familiar classics.\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for some recently published titles to add to your collection, you can\u2019t go wrong with these excellent selections: Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream (2011) \u00a0 This is one of the most delightful and charming books I\u2019ve read this year; I simply adore it. Clara Lee, a young Korean-American, has a typically eventful year for a third grader, the highlight of which is her town\u2019s annual Little Miss Apple Pie Princess competition.\u00a0 Determined to win, Clara works hard on the speech she must give in front of her entire school, but meets a formidable opponent, who declares that she is more deserving of the title due to her family\u2019s deep roots in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[71,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-jennifer-schultz","category-childrens-literature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}