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Katie Paul

Professor Fontanella-Nothom

LTC 4241

11/12/17

Literature Exploration:

A collection of books that represent people who are Asian American. The stories will feature

various Asian countries, ethnicities, etc. My goal was to include books that would represent the

continent of Asia and Asian Americans as a whole. I wanted a collection that would be inclusive

of as many Asian stories as possible. Often, we just think of Asian as Japanese or Chinese. I

wanted to create a collection that shows how diverse and unique the content of Asia is. I wanted

to showcase that having an Asian identity can have many unique aspects.

Barasch, L. (2007). Hiromis Hands. New York, NY: LEE & LOW BOOKS Inc.

This book is the story of how one young girls dream to become a sushi chef comes true!

It starts with another coming to America story of how her father made the journey here. He was a

trained sushi chef back in Japan and had the opportunity to go to America. After a while of living

in America, he opened his own sushi restaurant. Hiromi grew up watching her father work long

and hard hours at the restaurant. She wanted to spend more time with him, so she began asking to

help out around the restaurant. This was how her love of fish and sushi was born! She trained hard

and impressed her father; she was one of the first female sushi chefs in New York City!

The genre of this book is historical fiction and is written by Hiromis childhood friends

mother. I discovered this book through a feature of books that you had brought to class one day. I

wrote down the name because it was something that peaked my interest and proved to be a great
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addition to my Asian American collection. I think this book could be used with just about any

grade in elementary school. However, I think it would be best suited for third grade or higher.

While it is a picture book, it has a lot of details and difficult words to pronounce. This happens to

be one of my favorite features of the book as though. I love that the author incorporates actual

Japanese words and phrases. She puts the Japanese name of the sushi rolls along with the English

name. At the end of the book, there is even a glossary and pronunciation guide! I thought this was

a super thoughtful and helpful element to the book.

DiCicco, S. (2016). Adventures in Asian Art: An Afternoon at the Museum. Tokyo, JP: Tuttle

Publishing.

This book is all about the artifacts that can be found at the Asian Art Museum of San

Francisco! A mother decides to take her children to the museum to explore the exhibits for the day.

While they are there, they encounter pieces from China, India, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Iran, etc. The

children get to learn more about the culture behind each piece of art and how they can connect to

the ideas represented by that piece as well! The end of the book is a beautiful reminder that

museums are a gift of knowledge from the past. The children were thrilled with all the new

knowledge they gained and want a souvenir to remember it by. This is something I know a lot of

us who enjoy museums can connect to.

This book falls under a childrens non-fiction picture book. I love how unique this book is

even though it is intended to be informational. The pictures all feature real works of arts, and the

illustrator has created an animated family to journey along through the artifacts. I think this does

a fantastic job of enticing and intriguing young readers into materials that may be hard for them to

relate to. Seeing the young characters interact with and ask the reader questions about how they
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connect with the pieces is a great way to engage the reader! I think this book could work at any

grade level in an elementary school. It does have a long story, but for the younger grades, I think

you could maybe read it in smaller parts. The questions for the reader that are added to the story

make a great read-aloud opportunity!

Garland, S. (2001). Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam. Orlando, FL: Harcourt

Inc.

This book is all about favorite folktales that derive from Vietnamese culture. The book is

titled after the tale that a dragon prince named Lac Long Quan. He marries a fairy princess named

Au Co, and they have 100 children. This is how the Vietnamese people came to be, and they take

great pride in the symbolism of a dragon! The folk tales tell stories of tigers, water buffalo, the

Moon festival, monsoons, boat transportation, star fruit, and so much more. These stories reveal

the ancient traditions and customs of early Vietnam!

The genre of this book is folklore. I think you could use this book with just about any grade

level in an elementary school. I think you could easily do a small unit of study from this book.

You could read one folktale a day and incorporate literacy lessons around it. I selected this book

because I wanted to represent Vietnamese Americans. I thought that using a folktale book would

be a unique genre to include! I also really enjoyed how the purpose of the book is to combat the

traditional viewpoint that Vietnam is just a place where Americans fought a war. The book goes

to show how beautiful, complex, and rich with culture this country is. Folktales are always a read-

aloud favorite and help students feel more connected to the past.
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Harvey, J. W. (2017). Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines. New York, NY: Henry Holt

and Company.

This book is about a young girl who dared to dream and ended up being the creator of the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial! Mayas parents immigrated to America from China because they

wanted to be in a place where they werent told who to be or what to think. Her parents were

both professors; her mother was a poet, and her father was an artist. They inspired Maya to see

the beauty and design of the world. Maya dreamed of being an architect while attending college

and she decided to enter the contest for creating a design for the Memorial. Many famous artists

entered, and everyone was shocked when a young college girls design was chosen! Maya faced

many criticisms, but she prevailed and made people believe in her vision for celebrating the lost

lives of those who served the country.

The genre of this book is a biography. I actually found this book at the Columbia Public

Library while I was searching for another book for this collection. It was sitting on the shelf with

other biographies, and it happened to catch my eye. After I read it, I was really moved by the

story. It was another excellent representation of Asian Americans, and I loved how it empowered

a young woman. Mayas accomplishment was no small feat, and I was impressed that her design

beat out many famous architects. I like how the book encourages a love of art and believing in

yourself! I think you could use this book was just about any age at the elementary level.

Khan, R. (2013). King for a Day. New York, NY: LEE & LOW BOOKS Inc.

This book is about a young boy named Malik who lives in Lahore, Pakistan! His story

focuses on the spring festival of Basant. Basant is a time to celebrate the new season with kite

flying, fireworks, and parties. Malik and his sister are perched on their rooftop awaiting the
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chance to test out his kite he has created for Basant. However, the bully next door taunts them

and has a kite of his own as well. An intriguing kite battle breaks out between the two roofs and

Maliks kite, The Falcon, proves to be victorious! While the celebrations of a great day continue,

Malik helps a young girl on the street acquire a new kite after hers had been stolen by the bully.

The stories and illustrations represent an exciting and joyous holiday that the festival of Basant

brings to Pakistan!

The genre of this book is historical fiction. I discovered this book from a blog called

Colors of Us: All About Multicultural Childrens Books (http://coloursofus.com/30-asian-asian-

american-childrens-books/). The article I found it on featured childrens books that represented

Asian Americans. I chose this book because I love how it told the story of a city-wide

celebration. The main character features a young boy who uses a wheelchair. At no point in the

story, do they mention it and the book just features illustrations of him fully participating in the

event. I especially loved that the book represented not only Asian Americans but a person who

has a disability in such a fun and life celebrating way!

OBrien, A. S. (2012). A Path of Stars. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing Inc.

This book is about a young girl named Dara and her Cambodian grandmother, Lok Yeay.

Daras grandmother loves to tell stories about Cambodia and what it was like there. She

describes how it was so warm that stars glowed there, how sweet the mango trees smelled, and

how they would have celebrations at actual temples there. Dara knows that Lok Yeay longs to

return to Cambodia to visit family that was left behind during the war. One day, Lok Yeay

receives sad news that a family member has died. The grandmother is consumed with sadness,

and Dara knows she must find a way to cheer her up. She searches for flowers and cooks a dish
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that will remind her of home. She tells her grandmother that one day they will return to the house

by the river and reunite with family members. This story is a touching tribute to how immigrants

travel to America seeking safety but often miss their family members and the old comforts of

home.

The genre of this book is fiction. You could use this book with any grade level, but I

think it would be better suited for children in third grade or higher. I also discovered this book on

the blog called Colors of Us: All About Multicultural Childrens Books

(http://coloursofus.com/30-asian-asian-american-childrens-books/). The article I found it on

featured childrens books that represented Asian Americans. I chose this book because it

describes the hardships and joys of a Cambodian immigrant. I think that immigrants would

genuinely be able to relate to the fond memories of their home country. People cherish the food,

religion, and family that they leave behind. This story celebrates them and provides hope that the

family will have the opportunity to return someday!

Recorvits, H. (2003). My Name is Yoon. New York, NY: Frances Foster Books.

This book is about a young girl named Yoon and her journey from Korea to America!

She begins attending school and finds it difficult to write in English. She misses the way things

were done back at home, and she struggles to find the motivation to write her own name. Instead,

the only words she prints are the ones that give her joy and inspiration for the day. She looks for

words that have helped her gain a relationship with her a teacher and words that helped her make

a new friend. Yoon soon discovers that America isnt so bad and she finally writes her own name

Yoon on her paper at school!

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The genre of this book is Fiction. I discovered this book through another one of your in-

class book features. I think you could use this book with any grade level in an elementary school.

I specifically chose this book because I believe it represents what it must be like to be an ELL

student in an American classroom. Yoon misses her home immensely, and she struggles to find

the motivation to integrate into her new community. I like that the book represents how difficult

it is to go from writing in symbols to now being expected to write in letters. This is not an easy

transition, and I can only imagine how confused the student must feel. As the story goes on

though Yoon finds her own small ways to bond with her teacher. The story also reflects the small

act of kindness that an American peer can give to make an ELL student more welcome. The end

of the story is such a happy one because you know she is finally happy because she finally writes

her name at school!

Say, A. (1993). Grandfathers Journey. Boston, MA: Sandpiper, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt Publishing Company.

This book features the story of one mans journey from Japan to America. When he

travels to America, he falls in love with the land formations of California. He decides to settle

down and make a life there as to explore a new life. He cant help but think of his home, his old

friends, and the way his homeland formations make him feel. He decides to return to Japan and

begins to raise a family. While back in Japan he has the same reminiscing feelings of being back

in America as he had of Japan when he was there. The story and illustrations do a fantastic job of

recognizing that often we leave in our heart in more than one place.

The genre of this book is childrens fiction picture book. It had also won a Caldecott

Medal for illustration in 1994. I discovered this book through an article on the website Teaching
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Tolerance (https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2013/i-am-asian-american). The article

focuses on diving deeper into the Asian American label through the use of literature. I think that

you could ideally use this book with any grade in an elementary school. The illustrations are

beautiful and would make for a great read aloud in K-2. I also think that the book would not be

too complex for 3-5 graders to read independently. My main reason for selecting this book

because I like that it provides the viewpoint that more than one country can be your favorite

place. Often times I think people just claim one country and can sometimes think its better than

another one. This story does a great job of showing how a person can genuinely value more than

one place in the world.

Winter, J. (2005). The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Inc.

This book is about a female librarian in Iraq! The story takes place right before and

during when the war broke out there. Alia, the librarian, wishes to move the books to a safer

place; she fears they will be caught in the crossfire. However, she is not granted permission to do

so but decides to take action on her own. She begins moving books in her car and storing as

many as she can within her own home. She even recruits the help of neighbors, friends, and a

restaurant owner. Although the library was burnt down, the books are safe with her, and she

awaits the day they can begin to rebuild!

The genre of this book is a biography. I discovered this book through another one of your

in-class book features. I usually write down most books so that I had a lot to choose from. The

back of this book states that you could use it at any age and I agree. I decided to add this book to

this collection for two reasons. The first one being it shows you how valuable and important

books are and how far one woman would go to save them. I think this would maybe help give
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students the perspective that books are to be cherished and we should take pride in them! The

second reason I chose it is because it provides the view of what a person in Iraq mustve felt like.

Students get a glimpse into how scared and nervous the librarian was and how she was just

dreaming of peace again. I think it could give students an new empathetic perspective towards a

country where sometimes the only narrative they see is a negative one about the people who live

there.

Zia, F. (2011). Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji. New York, NY: LEE & LOW BOOKS Inc.

This book features a story about a young Indian boy named Aneel! His Dada-ji, also known

as a grandfather, comes to visit and with him, he brings the best stories from back home in India.

A tale ensues about a mighty lad who derives his strength from some hot hot, roti! Inspired by the

characters power Aneel begins begging all of his family members to make hot, hot roti. Although

all of his other family members are too busy to help him, Dada-ji is right there and available to

help. The family cant help but become intrigued and involved in the cooking process. This story

represents how intricately food is tied to a country's culture and how it can uniquely bring the

family members together!

The genre of this book is fiction. I located this book through the Asian Pacific American

Award for Literature list! The book won in 2012 with a picture book nomination. I think this book

could be used with any grade in an elementary school. I specifically chose this book because I

wanted to represent the southern region of Asia. The story does a great job of bringing in how

deeply connected food is to the countries culture through family, stories, and even religion.

Everyone enjoys eating food, and a lot of students can relate to the idea of cooking with a beloved
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family member. I think this will help students get a lense into the family structure of an Indian

American family meal!