Materials from China
Tong tong! The legendary Nian monster has returned at Chinese New Year. With horns, scales, and wide, wicked jaws, Nian is intent on devouring Shanghai, starting with Xingling! The old tricks to keep him away don’t work on Nian anymore, but Xingling is clever. Will her quick thinking be enough to save the city from the Nian Monster?
A single feather, blown about by the wind, asks a variety of birds if she belongs to them but is dismissed time and again until she gives up her quest.
Little Rabbit is playing outside in the garden with questions popping up into his mind. He was curious about Mama’s big eyes, long ears and strong legs. Chinese brush painting combines naturally and perfectly with the little sweet talk between the little rabbit and his mother.
On the eve of Chinese New Year, Yao wakes the ancient sky dragon, Shen Long, from his year-long sleep, propelling Yao on a magical journey through the skies to battle the bad luck of the previous year and usher in the good.
A little girl conjures increasingly destructive animals using Chinese martial arts poses.
A young emperor, whose advisors have taken advantage of him, enlists the help of honest tailors to reveal their misdeeds in this retelling of the classic fairy tale. Includes historical notes and instructions for making a robe.
Mia Chen is on what her mother calls a Grand Adventure. She’s not sure what to make of this family trip to China, and didn’t want to leave her friends for the summer, but she’s excited about the prospect of exploring with her Aunt Lin, the only adult who truly understands her. Then Aunt Lin disappears, right after her old nemesis, a man named Ying, comes to visit. Mia knows that years ago, when Aunt Lin and Ying were sent to the Fuzhou countryside to work as laborers, the two searched for an ancient treasure together—one that still hasn’t been found. She’s suspicious that their shared history might be linked to Aunt Lin’s disappearance. When Mia discovers an old map filled with riddles in Aunt Lin’s room, she quickly pieces together her mission: find the treasure, find her aunt. Now, Mia, along with her big brother, Jake, must solve the clues to rescue the person she knows best in the world—and maybe unearth a treasure greater than her wildest dreams.
In the village of Huanan, in medieval China, the deity that rules is the Great Huli Jing. Though twelve-year-old Li Jing’s name is a different character entirely from the Huli Jing, the sound is close enough to provide constant teasing-but maybe is also a source of greater destiny and power. Jing’s life isn’t easy. Her father is a poor tea farmer, and her family has come to the conclusion that in order for everyone to survive, Jing must be sacrificed for the common good. She is sold as a bride to the Koh family, where she will be the wife and nursemaid to their three-year-old son, Ju’nan. It’s not fair, and Jing feels this bitterly, especially when she is treated poorly by the Koh’s, and sold yet again into a worse situation that leads Jing to believe her only option is to run away, and find home again. With the help of a spider who weaves Jing a means to escape, and a nightingale who helps her find her way, Jing embarks on a quest back to Huanan–and to herself.
Seventeen traditional American and Chinese songs are written in artist Xu Bing’s signature Square Word Calligraphy.
“The story of how Joyce Chen, a girl born in Communist China, immigrated to the United States and popularized Chinese cooking.”