Picture Book

Amah Faraway

Kylie is nervous about visiting her grandmother-her Amah-who lives SO FAR AWAY.

When she and Mama finally go to Taipei, Kylie is shy with Amah. Even though they have spent time together in video chats, those aren’t the same as real life. And in Taiwan, Kylie is at first uncomfortable with the less-familiar language, customs, culture, and food. However, after she is invited by Amah-Lái kàn kàn! Come see!-to play and splash in the hot springs (which aren’t that different from the pools at home), Kylie begins to see this place through her grandmother’s eyes and sees a new side of the things that used to scare her. Soon, Kylie is leading her Amah-Come see! Lái kàn kàn!-back through all her favorite parts of this place and having SO MUCH FUN! And when it is time to go home, the video chats will be extra special until they can visit faraway again.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XV, Issue 2.

Deep In The Woods-A Folk Tale

Deep in the woods is a little wooden house, with nine neat windows and a red front door. When a little mouse decides it will make the perfect home, so do the other animals in the wood – including a great big bear! But will the bear be able to put everything right when their home comes tumbling down? Find out in this beautifully illustrated retelling of a classic Russian folk tale.

Friends Are Friends, Forever

Just before Chinese New Year, Dandan discovers that her family is moving to America, far away from her best friend Yueyue; before they leave Yueyue gives her a stack of red paper and a spool of string so she can share the art of paper cutting with Americans–and when Chinese New Year comes around again Dandan remembers Yueyue’s gift and introduces her new friend Christina to this ancient art.

Quiet!

Mr. Martin enjoys tranquility. He likes to drink his coffee in silence, read his newspaper quietly, and take peaceful naps. His neighbors are aware of that, but easily forget — so much so that the noise they make drives Mr. Martin up the wall. One day, he decides to take matters into his own hands…

We Dream Medicine Dreams

When a little girl dreams about a bear, her grandfather explains how we connect with the knowledge of our ancestors through dreams. Bear, Hawk, Caribou, and Wolf all have teachings to share to help us live a good life. But when Grampa gets sick and falls into a coma, the little girl must lean on his teachings as she learns to say goodbye.

Where Wonder Grows

Grandma knows that there is wondrous knowledge to be found everywhere you can think to look. She takes her girls to their special garden, and asks them to look over their collection of rocks, crystals, seashells, and meteorites to see what marvels they have to show. “They were here long before us and know so much more about our world than we ever will,” Grandma says. So they are called grandfathers. By taking a close look with an open mind, they see the strength of rocks shaped by volcanoes, the cleansing power of beautiful crystals, the oceans that housed their shells and shapes its environment, and the long journey meteorites took to find their way to them. Gathered together, Grandma and the girls let their surroundings spark their imaginations.