Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao

Amy loves eating bao but unlike her dad, mom, and grandma, she cannot form the dough and filling into the perfectly shaped bun. If she keeps persisting every time they make bao together, will she ever get it right?

This was a super cute and fun story about a child showcasing perseverance and ingenuity. I love that Amy problem solves and finds out what is causing her issue -- and how to fix it. Her family is supportive in her efforts throughout but they do let her 'fail' a bit and figure things out her own, which is a difficult lesson for parents to learn sometimes!

The illustrations fit the story and its tone well. Backmatter includes a recipe for making bao.

Amy is excited to make "the perfect bao" with her parents and grandma, but no matter how hard she tries, her bao don't come out right: they have too much filling or not enough, they leak or have holes. But then Amy realizes that the circles of dumpling dough are cut to the size of adult hands: once she has smaller pieces of dough, her bao are perfect! (And even the imperfect ones taste good.) Recipe included.

Loved this book, read it many times! See also: Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed, Dim Sum for Everyone by Grace Lin

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Re-read March/April 2021, for Mother/Daughter Book Club

A little odd, because "too small" was what was wrong with earlier attempts. But hey, still cute. I love the extreme close-up on the page where Amy's eyebrows react to the advice from her adults. And it's the first of a series? That's uncommon in easy picture-books; I'm off to investigate.

This book has a productive struggle, showing how the little girl can't make a "perfect bao" as her family can, but after fixing it to her size she is able to with practice. This book is good for primary age, and helps a kid realize not to give up and to keep trying after you fail.

This book is good for a primary age group. It tells the story of a young Chinese girl making bao with her family and trying to make the perfect bun. I would have it in my classroom to encourage students to try new food and learn about other cultures.

This book would be a great read aloud for primary aged students.
This book is about a young girl named Amy Wu, and she is making bao with her parents and grandmother. She struggles with making the perfect bao, but she perseveres and eventually learns how to make the perfect bao by adjusting it to fit her own skills.
I would use this book in the classroom as a fun read aloud book to show my students different cultures and foods within different cultures. This book shows the process of making bao, which is a Chinese cuisine, and it would be a great resource for showing students an aspect of Chinese culture through food.

I love this! Reminded me of an old favorite, [b:Dumpling Soup|893829|Dumpling Soup|Jama Kim Rattigan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344269464l/893829._SX50_.jpg|879053], that we like to read around New Year's Eve.

My family frequents a restaurant where you can watch through a window as the cooks make xiaolongbao. My daughter somehow thinks it looks easy (a compliment to the cooks I suppose), so someday we'll have to try to make it ourselves and she can see how challenging it actually is. There's a great video on the author's website showing how bao are made from start to finish.