As I’ve mentioned before, My Panda Paws offers a variety of books, DVDs and other products to help children learn Chinese. Just in time for back-to-school, they have generously offered a 15% discount for readers of Hao Mama through September 3. Just enter Haomama at checkout. Enjoy!
The Monkey King (Journey to the West) is one of the greatest and most engaging tales for young (and old) minds ever written. My son never tires of hearing and watching the stories and knows well the details of each character and their many adventures. Asia Society has posted a video of Professor Anthony C. Yu providing a somewhat academic look at why this story endures for children over so many generations.
Read more from Hao Mama about the Monkey King.
Just came across these beautiful images composed of Chinese characters. Can’t wait to show my Monkey King-obsessed son this one tomorrow:
L has begun to enjoy reading chapter books, and, along with Stuart Little and the Beverly Cleary classics, especially likes the popular Magic Tree House series, about a brother and sister in Pennsylvania who discover a tree house in the woods behind their house which transports them to any number of exotic or historical scenes, from the Age of the Dinosaurs to the ninjas of ancient Japan and even up to the moon. While searching for Christmas gift books for him, I was excited to find the whole series in English/Chinese bilingual editions at ChinaSprout. We were especially happy about this discovery because we’ve had a hard time finding quality books in Chinese for his age, available here, which are more sophisticated than the average picture book but engaging enough to keep his interest. His dad and I now take turns reading the same Magic Tree House (神奇树屋) book in English and Chinese, and he loves it. With over thirty books in the series, this should keep us busy for a while. The whole series in Chinese is available on Amazon as well
As I’ve mentioned before, the legend of the Monkey King is a favorite in our house. Before a recent long flight, I searched iTunes (which, if you search hard enough, has quite a bit of material in Chinese for kids) for something to keep L entertained, and found a recording of the complete Monkey King (Journey to the West or 西游记) by famed storyteller Sun Jingxiu (孙敬修). Generations of Chinese children have listened to “Grandpa Sun” tell the story of Sun Wukong in his heavy Beijing accent without any special effects, cutesy voices, or annoying music; his recording keeps my five-year-old enthralled for hours at a time and often makes him laugh out loud. Highly recommended for quiet rest times, long car trips, or rainy indoor days.
To find it, search the iTunes store for “Sun Jingxiu.” Currently they only have Volumes 1 & 3, but the whole set can also be purchased on Amazon
Below are some suggestions of holiday gifts for the little linguists in your lives. I have mentioned most of these products elsewhere on this site but they are worth pointing out again because each of them has been well-used and loved by my own kids. Happy Shopping!
What young child doesn’t love playing with magnets on the fridge? Why not have them learn some Chinese while they are at it?
Kingka, a matching game that teaches young learners to recognize Chinese characters and learn the meaning. There are various ways to play it depending on the age and fluency of your children, and the sturdy character cards themselves are a great resource.
A beautiful book that creatively introduces a few characters through a fun story.
A gentle CD of songs and counting rhymes designed to teach the basic sounds of Chinese to very young children. One of my kids’ favorite CDs.
A beautiful soothing collection of lullabies that puts both my kids to sleep every night. My little one now sings “You You Zha” (the name of the first song) to signal she is ready for bed.
There is something about the drawings of Elmer that babies just love.
I’ve been negligent about updating this site and so have missed out on some cool new resources and websites that have popped up in recent weeks. I just by chance discovered this website, Panda Paws, that sells products for bilingual learning. It’s run by two Chinese-American moms who say they personally select everything they sell according to what their children like. They also write a blog.
Another new blog by a mom also covers topics related to raising bilingual Chinese-English kids in the U.S., apparently also here in the SF Bay Area. I look forward to reading more from her. And I’ll try to do a better job keeping up with all the great new resources out there.
Read the rest of this entry »
Grace Lin
Those of you who are familiar with the wonderful book The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters
With T now one year old, we are all constantly tripping over board books left lying around in odd corners of our house. “Book” was one of her first words and she can read several of them, repeatedly, and be completely enthralled for all ten lines of text, before pointing frantically and saying, “Mama book mama book mama book” until it is read again, and again. Even though I am never sure how much she really understands of the text, she definitely has strong preferences and won’t touch some books while others are already getting worn at the edges.
In the three years since L was in the board book phase, I have noticed that an incredible number of popular books are now available in Chinese (or maybe they always were but now I know where to look). I ordered a random selection for her and these are now among our favorites:
Elmer’s Day (English-Chinese)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. A classic and the simple, rhythmic narrative translates easily.
Sleepyhead. A night-time story that teaches body parts in a gentle rhyme.
