Born Naughty: My Childhood in China gives children an understanding of the culture and experiences of a child growing up in China in 1982. From the very first page, Jin’s story hooks the reader. “When I was young I lived with my family in a mud house so tiny we barely fit inside. Our house had just one room, filled mostly with the bed we all shared—my mother, Ma, Die (meaning “father”) my two younger brothers, and I.” When I read this aloud to a class of 3rd and 4th graders, they immediately had questions about how five people could sleep together on such a small bed in a tiny one-room house. The black and white illustrations by Anisi Baigude helped them imagine the scene. The illustrations are expressive and action packed, adding details that illuminate the story.
Each chapter in the book evoked more questions from the students especially the description of what water was available to drink. “Because we had so little of it, water was a big, big thing… To save it, my family drank hardly any. Ma set most aside for cooking and washing clothes. We took baths once, maybe twice a year and shared about three cups of water each day for washing hands. I let my hands get very dirty before I washed them. But—Ma’s big rule—always before we ate we had to wash our hands.” The children listening to this part of the story were incredulous — a bath once or twice a year?
In another lively chapter, Jin tells how she was allowed to travel by wagon with her father to the “far water town,” where their village got its water. When they arrive at the well, Jin’s father holds her feet so she could peer down into the water. “Because I was born naughty, I dropped from my pocket one small stone—plink!—to hear the sound.”
It is important in reading aloud this book to point out that this account took place forty-two years ago and that China is very different today. Share recent newspaper photos to show the modern country China is today.
The Authors’ Notes in the back of the book tell how Jin Wang, Tony Johnston’s yoga teacher, told Tony during her yoga lessons about her growing up adventures in China. Johnston writes, “Our yoga sessions were chopped up. The story was chopped up. So instead I began talking with Jin after yoga, writing everything she said… Jin’s story touched me in a deep place. I wanted to help her share it.” Since Tony is an accomplished author who has published more than 120 books, the collaboration between the two resulted in an action packed, interesting story that will engage the attention of children six through eight. –Recommended by Marilyn Carpenter, Professor Emeritus, Eastern Washington University.
Title: Born Naughty: My Childhood in China
Authors: Jin Wang with Tony Johnston
Illustrator: Anisi Baigude
ISBN: 9780593563618
Pub Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Anne Schwartz Books
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- Themes: Anisi Baigude, Born Naughty: My Childhood in China, Jin Wang, Marilyn Carpenter, Tony Johnston
- Descriptors: WOW Recommends