Publishers

Who is publishing books for readers with children, East Asian culture, Asian-American concerns, education, and imagination in mind? I have been web-surfing and sifting through google searches. The very short list below excludes major publishing houses (Simon and Schuster, Random House, etc.) and publishers of general children's literature (e.g., Candlewick), whose broad reach does include excellent books that overlap with this blog's interests. But here, my purpose is to bring attention to the more focused missions of smaller companies. I believe that there are others that belong on this list, and I'm hoping that readers will write in and add to it.

Children's Book Press
  Nonprofit publisher of multicultural and bilingual literature for children

http://www.thingsasianpress.com/
  Publisher of travel and cultural books about Asia for children and others

http://www.shens.com/
  Publisher of multicultural children’s literature that emphasizes cultural diversity and tolerance, with a focus on introducing children to the cultures of Asia. 

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/
  Independent publisher of Asian language and culture learning materials for students and adults.


http://peripluspublishinggroup.com/tuttle/
  Tuttle Publishing, founded by Charles E. Tuttle in Tokyo in 1948, publishes "books to span the East and West," including crafts, cookbooks, and other genres appealing to children and adults.


http://www.leeandlow.com/
  A family-owned company with a major goal of the company is to meet the need for stories that children of color can identify with and that all children can enjoy. In addition, we make a special effort to work with writers and illustrators of color, 




I will continue to add to this list, but in the meantime, I am also beginning to explore the world of eBooks. How will eBooks change the way we read and learn? Are there eBooks out there that exploit the new possibilities when it comes to learning about another culture and cross-cultural understanding? These are questions that will be on my mind as I continue reading and reviewing in 2011.

Seasonal Greetings

We have the very good fortune of enjoying these snowy days, chilly nights, and crackling fires with friends and family. We hope that you have that good fortune, too. In the days and months to come, we hope for more peace, compassion, and community in our world, and we will look for ways to make hope come into being.

As the holidays bring a change from routine, I have been reading other blogs, and here I offer several blogs that may be of interest to you. Their authors write about children's literature, authors of color, and writing.

http://asiaintheheart.blogspot.com/

http://collectingchildrensbooks.blogspot.com/

http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/

http://thejoyofchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

http://planetesme.blogspot.com/

Cynthea Liu

http://coloronline.blogspot.com/

Ruby Lu's debut

Lenore Look (author) and Anne Wilsdorf (illustrator)
Ruby Lu, Brave and True
Simon and Schuster, 2004

A nautical and expressive someone (Hemingway?) once wrote that the most interesting journey includes a thousand tacks. For this blog, I'm reading in a manner circuitous and non-sequential. The name Ruby Lu has a lovely rhythm and sound to it, rather like Poe's Annabel Lee, and you'll probably remember her from an earlier review of the sequel book here. Ruby Lu, Brave and True doesn't have the same consistent flow of the later book, but there are satisfying moments when everything—actions, dialogue, meaning—does come together. The theme of magic tricks, sleights of hand, and performance run through the book, but these scenes are less captivating than, say, Ruby's clever and reinforcing combination of learning Chinese (Cantonese dialect) and learning to drive. Much of the book seemed like a series of loosely-linked skits for the purpose of introducing characters, added but not joined and in a constant state of flux. The pace and content settle into a comfortable stride with the anticipated arrival of Ruby's cousin, Flying Duck. There is much, including the Glossary, that (in retrospect) takes an embryonic form, waiting for Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything to develop fully.

Young family grows

Ed Young
My Mei Mei
Philomel, 2006

Jieh Jieh (jiejie 姐姐), older sister Antonia, tells the story of wishing for a little sister and of that wish coming true. But before adopting Mei Mei (妹妹), Antonia practices by wiping Mommy's nose and changing Baba's diapers. Only after Mei Mei finally joins the family does Antonia come to a full realization of the consequences bad, namely less attention, and good, pride and camaraderie beyond her imagination, of having a sister. Of Ed Young's books, My Mei Mei, is probably most personal. His illustrations, combining a range of vintage floral patterns and dreamy color drawings, have the feel of a beloved family album, and appropriately, he includes a photograph and short note about his daughters at the book's end.

Freedom wrings

Belle Yang
Hannah Is My Name
Candlewick, 2004

  Through Hannah, we learn about the anxieties and trials of immigration for a Taiwanese family in San Francisco. Among other things, Hannah must learn a new language, bid farewell to a friend whose family is deported to Hong Kong, and flee the hotel where her father works when an immigration officer comes for an inspection. But her daily trial is one shared by the entire family, waiting for green cards. At last the cards arrive, and Hannah proudly takes ownership of her American name and her legal status.
  Belle Yang's story and illustrations are bright and upbeat, rendering the immigration narrative accessible and minimizing the stress. But, the book's decided ambiguity generates its own anxieties. Why is Hannah's family rewarded with green cards, when her friend's family is deported? What are the ethics of immigration? "Freedom" is repeated a number of times, and we wonder, why is it that the so-called land of the free grants freedom to some and not others?

Do unto others

Ed Young
I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket
Philomel, 2004

I did not expect a story told by a basket to be so deeply affecting. I won't take away from the book's punch, so I will only say that the measure of a person should be judged by how she treats her weakest fellow human beings. The same is true of a society, a civilization. Ed Young's unembellished prose and the searing expressions of his figures help us imagine ourselves in the position of the weak, and make I, Doko a memorable book.

Journey by Journal

Andrea Cheng (author) and Ed Young (illustrator)

Shanghai Messenger

Lee and Low, 2005

May Johanson tells her story of a week-long journey from Ohio to Shanghai to visit relatives through a series of finely honed prose-poems that read like spontaneous journal entries. Only eleven years old, May travels alone, and as her Nai Nai bids her, she is to be a messenger between branches of the family that immigrated and that remained in China.

  May is scared and homesick, but her aunties and uncles shower her with affection. Moreover, her keen observation of the distinctive world around her capture and hold her attention. The way Auntie takes care to use every morsel of filling in her wontons, the way the city smells of mist and gasoline and fish, the way children of all ages can meet and instantly play together without anxiety—these aspects of everyday life draw May into the present, and we follow her lead into a lovingly described place. 

  Cheng's story is gentle, but we feel it is authentic (even to the point where her use of Nai Nai for mother's mother can be overlooked). We grow with May's experiences, and like her, we now see that our world is bigger and we hope for opportunities for increased connections. Ed Young's sketches convey a feeling of absorption and memory appropriate for the story, and his two-page spread of folks practicing tai chi offers a moment of suspended animation, a perfect metaphor for May's turning point.