Asia

Materials from Asia

Stories To Play with: Kids’ Tales Told with Puppets, Paper, Toys, and Imagination

For storytellers who are just starting out, it seems appropriate to begin telling to young children. Yet young children present the most difficult audience a storyteller can face. So where does one begin? Simple. With some old newspaper and the story Rain Hat or Mountain Climbing, children will be enthralled at the action of the young hero as you fold and tear and create mountains, hats, fans, and boats right before their very eyes. Or, take a milk carton and make a frog puppet to tell the story.

A Path of Stars

A refugee from Cambodia, Dara’s beloved grandmother, Lok Yeay, is grief-stricken when she learns her brother–left behind in Cambodia–has died, and it is up to Dara to bring Lok Yeay back to a place of happiness.

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda

In 1934, Ruth Harkness had never seen a panda bear.  Not many people in the world had.

But soon the young Mrs. Harkness would inherit an expedition from her explorer husband: the hunt for a panda.  She knew that bringing back a panda would be hard. Impossible, even.  But she intended to try.

So she went to China, where she found a guide, built traps, gathered supplies, and had explorers’ clothes made—unheard of for a woman in those days.  Then she set out up the Yangtze River and into the wilderness.  What she discovered would awe America: an adorable baby panda she named Su Lin, which means “a little bit of something very cute.”

My Name Is Yoon

Disliking her name as written in English, Korean-born Yoon, or “shining wisdom,” refers to herself as “cat,” “bird,” and “cupcake,” as a way to feel more comfortable in her new school and new country. (Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award, 2004)

The Umbrella Queen

When Noot is finally allowed to paint umbrellas like the other women and girls in her village, she secretly hopes that she might be chosen as this year’s Umbrella Queen. Carefully, she creates serene flowers and butterflies- exactly as she has seen her mother and grandmother do for years.

But soon her imagination takes over, and Noot finds herself straying from the old patterns to the dismay of her family, who depend on the traditionally painted umbrellas for their livelihood.

Her parents tell her she must go back to the old designs and Noot obeys, knowing that the King is coming soon to name the one who has painted the most beautiful umbrella. After all, the King would never choose a queen who breaks from tradition…would he?

The Midnight Palace

In the heart of Calcutta lurks a dark mystery. Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, the book begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life. Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere’s sixteenth birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces.

Kokeshi: Aoki

Meet Aoki! She may be the smallest Kokeshi, but Aoki’s infectious enthusiasm can make anyone laugh. On her whirlwind trip to Tokyo, she will ride a high-speed train, dance under cherry blossom trees, and visit a zen garden. With sneak-peek flaps, fun die-cuts, and lavish gatefolds, this interactive exploration will enchant Kokeshi fans of all sizes!

Kokeshi: Yumi

Meet Yumi! Clever and ready for adventure, Yumi can’t wait to play with her friends at Kimi’s costume party, and you can help her get ready! Complete with peekaboo flaps, charming die-cuts, and extravagant gatefolds, discovering a whole new world has never been so much fun.

Drawing from Memory

Caldecott Medalist Allen Say presents a graphic novel chronicling his journey as an artist during WWII, when he apprenticed under Noro Shinpei, Japan’s premier cartoonist. Shunned by his father, who didn’t understand his son’s artistic leanings, Allen was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan’s leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his “spiritual father.” As WWII raged, Allen was further inspired to consider questions of his own heritage and the motivations of those around him. He worked hard in rigorous drawing classes, studied, trained–and ultimately came to understand who he really is. Part memoir, part graphic novel, part narrative history, this book presents a complex look at the real-life relationship between a mentor and his student. With watercolor paintings, original cartoons, vintage photographs, and maps.