I loved the message of this book – that persistence paid off for the boy who wanted to learn to make paper lanterns. I thought the illustrations could have been a little softer to give the characters more warmth, but the story more than made up for that.

While this book only covers one aspect of Chinese culture – dim sum – it does so in a charming way that small children will appreciate. I especially loved the two-page illustration near the end that shows many large restaurant tables with all the little plates of dumplings and other dishes, while carts wind their way around them.

This book gets points for covering a lot of information about holidays, especially the folk tales, crafts, and foods. Some of the information is in unwieldy chunks, so bring it out when a holiday approaches, and divide it throughout the year.

You can’t beat these books for quantity of information presented in an attractive way. The text is broken down into small chunks so kids can learn something new each time they browse through.

This book is so simple but it conveys so much. The words are spare but the illustrations are rich and the combination lulls you into enjoying the rhythm of an everyday morning in China. Lovely book for small children.

I wrote this book to inspire kids' curiosity about Chinese culture. It's the story of two American children who travel to China and are curious about everything they see, and a snapshot of what life could be like in China. There are interesting facts and fun activities to help integrate what they're learning.