KidLitFaves #1: Grace Lin
Hello, friends! Welcome to the first installment of KidLitFaves, a new series featuring some of my favorite children’s lit authors. We’re starting with Grace Lin, a beloved and prolific author and illustrator.
Biography
Grace Lin is a Taiwanese American author and illustrator who has written many books for children across age groups. She received a Newbery Honor for Where The Mountain Meets the Moon and a Caldecott Honor for A Big Mooncake for Little Star. She also won the Children's Literature Legacy Award in 2022. (sources: Wikipedia & Encyclopedia Britannica)
Bibliography highlights
Picture Books & Board Books
A Big Mooncake for Little Star: Mama and Little Star make a big mooncake together. Before they go to bed, Mama reminds Little Star not to eat the mooncake. But when Little Star wakes up in the middle of the night, she figures that just one little nibble can't hurt. A lovely, warm story with a nice STEM connection.
Dim Sum for Everyone: On a visit to a bustling dim sum restaurant, a family picks their favorite little dishes from the steaming trolleys filled with dumplings, cakes, buns, and tarts. And as is traditional and fun, they share their food with each other so that everyone gets a bite of everything.
Our Favorite Apples: Manny, Olivia, and Mei go apple picking and sort their red, green, and yellow apples by color. But then they find an apple that’s all three colors. What should they do? A playful exploration of sorting, classifying, and friendship. (Part of the Storytelling Math series.)
Early Readers
Ling and Ting series: Ling and Ting are two adorable identical twins, and they stick together, whether they are making dumplings, getting their hair cut, or practicing magic tricks. But looks are deceiving–people can be very different, even if they look exactly the same.
Chapter Books
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life’s questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon to ask him how she can change her family’s fortune.
Most recent release
The Girl, The Gate, and the Dragon: From award-winning and bestselling author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin comes a gorgeously illustrated story about a lion cub and a girl who must open a portal for the spirits, based on Chinese and Taiwanese folklore.
My reading experience
Personally, I started with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and went backwards through Lin’s previous picture books and early readers. Then, during grad school, I did a project that really introduced me to the breadth of Lin’s backlist.
Lin’s books are generally a wonderful mix of cultural appreciation, warm family relationships, and a fresh voice that brings ancient stories to contemporary kids. In particular, I love how much Minli from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon sounds like a kid, with lots of drama and all caps. Anyone who underlined half of their diary will relate. One of my other favorites, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, is a lovely picture book that works really well for storytime & STEM connections and rewards rereading.
I recommend Lin’s books to anyone who loves fairy tales and folktales, wants to learn more about history and culture, or wants to introduce STEM concepts for younger kids.
Readalikes
Picture books
Where in the Garden Series by Janay Brown-Wood: Like the Storytelling Math series, Brown-Wood’s books feature beautifully diverse characters introducing key STEM concepts in an engaging, fun way.
Chapter books
Peasprout Chen by Henry Lien: A delightful adventure based in Taiwanese folklore and culture. Peasprout Chen dreams of becoming a legend of wu liu, the deadly and beautiful art of martial arts figure skating. But her entry into the Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword is threatened by mysterious vandalism and competition with the other students.
A Boy Called Bat by Elana K Arnold: Arnold’s authentic and vivid writing bring’s Bat’s inner world to life in this delightful chapter book series. Bat (Bixby Alexander Tam) has one month to convince his mom to let him keep a rescued baby skunk. Will he manage to navigate challenges at school and home to keep his new friend?
Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend by Katie Zhao: When a girl awakens the stuff of legends from an old family recipe, she must embrace her extraordinary heritage to save the world. Based in Chinese folklore and mythology, this delightful trilogy forces Winnie to overcome the forces of evil and her worst nemesis: David Zuo.
Visit Grace Lin’s website to learn more about her and her work!
Thanks for reading. Next month, we’ll be looking at another favorite middle-grade writer.