Favorite Reads: Vietnam and Vietnamese-Americans

I put this list together to go along with this month’s reading theme.  This is nowhere near an exhaustive list of titles related to Vietnam or Vietnamese-Americans.  These are just a few titles I’ve read over the years that I would recommend.

Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam by Sherry Garland; illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Six traditional Vietnamese folktales retold and beautifully illustrated.  Elementary

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland; illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi
The titular lotus seed is a symbol of hope for a Vietnamese family that has lived through the turmoil of the war in Vietnam and must now make a new life in America – just as the seed can blossom in a new land, so can they.  Elementary

Why Ducks Sleep on One Leg by Sherry Garland; illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng
Retelling of a Vietnamese folktale explaining the reason for ducks’ odd behavior of sleeping with one leg on the ground and one tucked beneath a wing.  Elementary

Hello, My Name Is Scrambled Eggs by Jamie Gilson
When Harvey’s family sponsors a Vietnamese family who moves to the United States after the war, he enthusiastically goes about introducing them to American culture, but his efforts don’t always turn out the way he plans.  This middle grade novel exemplifies Gilson’s trademark combination of realism and humor.  Older Elementary

The Trouble Begins by Linda Himelblau
After being separated from his Vietnamese family for most of his life, ten-year-old Du is finally reunited with them in the United States, but he struggles (often in very funny ways) to fit into his new life.  Older Elementary

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
When it becomes clear that the end of the Vietnam War is fast approaching, young Ha and her family must leave behind everything they’ve known in Vietnam, including their father who has disappeared in battle, and start life again in Alabama.  A truly moving story written in verse that won the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.  Older Elementary

Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules; illustrated by Kathryn Mitter
Tuyet is concerned when she realizes that her Vietnamese-American family will be having duck on Thanksgiving Day rather than the traditional turkey, but she comes to realize that the holiday is about more than just turkey.  Preschool; Early Elementary

When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden
Nine-year-old Binh lives in Vietnam and is very excited to meet her aunt who was adopted during the war by an American family, but when her aunt arrives, Binh is a little disappointed in her American ways.  Older Elementary

Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen
A contemporary novel about the rivalry between two Vietnamese-American sisters and their challenging relationships with their father, set against the backdrop of romantic drama and immigration issues.  Adult

Going Home, Coming Home by Truong Tran; illustrated by Ann Phong
Ami Chi doesn’t understand why both her parents consider Vietnam home since they’ve lived in the United States for so long.  When they take her there to meet her grandmother for the first time, she realizes that it’s like another home to her, too.  Preschool, Elementary

Favorite Reads: Candy

Who knew that June is National Candy Month?  Why not celebrate by reading the quintessential candy book - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl?

And here are a few other titles to read to celebrate this sweet month!

When Ruby Tried to Grow Candy by Valorie Fisher; illustrated by the author

After climbing the fence into her neighbor’s backyard to retrieve her ball, Ruby Hawthorn discovers the unusual garden planted by the cantankerous Miss Wysterious, who has Ruby plant some candy to see if it will grow.  The illustrations are really fantastic – the characters are drawn in cartoon-style, then set within collage/diorama scenes that are then photographed by the author/illustrator.  Preschool; Early Elementary

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan; illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Rubina is so excited to be invited to a friend’s birthday party, but then her mother makes her take along her little sister, who goes on to spoil the party (resulting in Rubina never being invited to a party again) and then eat  the lollipop from the treat bag that Rubina had been saving for later.  This story is such a perfect depiction of life with siblings, and it does have a “sweet” ending.  Preschool; Early Elementary

Hansel and Gretel retold by James Marshall; illustrated by the author

The Grimm classic about a brother and sister abandoned by their father and stepmother in the forest who encounter a witch living in a house made of candy, cookies, and cake.  Preschool; Early Elementary

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Four twelve-year-old contestants gather at the Life Is Sweet candy factory to prepare for the Annual New Candy Contest, but they each have a secret that just might jeopardize their entries as well as the candy factory itself.   A great mystery and “sweet” story about friendship as well.  Middle Grade

Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker by Megan McDonald; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

When Stink buys an Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker that does not actually break his jaw, he writes a letter to the candy company.  In return, they send him free candy, so he sets out to write letters to several other companies in hopes of receiving more free stuff, but his plan spirals out of control and even causes a problem with his best friend.  Early Elementary; Middle Grade

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

When a new candy store opens in town fifth-graders Nate, Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon are given magical candy by the owner, but in return they are entangled in a magical war.  A bit on the darker side, this book is a great read for fantasy lovers, especially those who enjoy great action sequences.  Middle Grade

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Jen Corace

In this funny tale that turns the traditional dinnertime battle on its head, poor Little Pea’s parents are forcing him to eat something really disgusting for dinner – candy!  Will Little Pea manage to eat enough candy to receive his mystery dessert?  Preschool; Early Elementary

The Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael O. Tunnell

This book tells the true story of Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen, a US Air Force pilot during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49, who began “Operation Little Vittles” to deliver sweet treats to the children of West Berlin.  Along with candy and gum, Halvorsen also gave the children and families of Berlin hope during this dark time, and the connections he and his fellow pilots made were unimaginable and long-reaching.  An inspiring read!  Middle Grade

A Balloon for Isabel by Deborah Underwood; illustrated by Laura Rankin

More than anything, Isabel wants a balloon on her graduation day, but because she and her classmates are porcupines that’s a bit problematic, so they’ll be receiving bookmarks instead, until Isabel comes up with a “sweet” solution.  Preschool; Early Elementary

Favorite Read Alouds

My library system coordinates a volunteer program called Read with Me.  (If you’re in the Knoxville area, we’re looking for volunteers!)  Volunteers who participate in this program read to children at local schools in kindergarten through 3rd grade.   Read with Me is a wonderful program, and we’re lucky to have great, dedicated volunteers.  I’ve recently been working on a list of favorite read aloud titles to help these volunteers.  Even librarians like myself who have lots of experience reading to children can use new titles to choose from, right?

So, I started with titles that I like to read to kids this age, then I culled titles from lists online.  Lastly, I sought out the advice of friends and coworkers.  I ended up with a fantastic list of about 70 titles, which I’ve posted below:

Ahlberg, Allan	The Pencil
Allard, Harry	Miss Nelson Is Missing
Andrews, Julie	The Very Fairy Princess
Armour, Peter	Stop That Pickle
Aston, Dianna Hutts	The Moon over Star
Barrett, Judi	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Bemelmans, Ludwig	Madeline
Bloom, Becky	Wolf!
Blue, Rose	Ron’s Big Mission
Bradby, Marie	More Than Anything Else
Bruchac, Joseph	The Story of the Milky Way: A Cherokee Tale
Burton, Virginia Lee	Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Cannon, Janell	Stellaluna
Creech, Sharon	A Fine, Fine School
Cronin, Doreen	Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
Donaldson, Julie	The Gruffalo
Donnio, Sylviane	I’d Really Like to Eat  Child
Ernst, Lisa Campbell	Stella Louella’s Runaway Book
Fleming, Candace	Muncha Muncha Muncha
Ginsburg, Mirra	Clay Boy
Hatkoff, Isabella	Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship
Henkes, Kevin	Sheila Rae, the Brave
Hoffman, Mary	Amazing Grace
Hong, Lily Toy	Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale
Hopkinson, Deborah	Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative…
Howitt, Mary Botham	The Spider and the Fly
Isaacs, Anne	Swamp Angel
Kasza, Keiko	My Lucky Day
Kasza, Keiko	Grandpa Toad’s Secrets
Ketteman, Helen	Bubba the Cowboy Prince
Ketteman, Helen	Luck with Potatoes
Kimmel, Eric A.	Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock
Kraus, Robert	Leo the Late Bloomer
Larson, Kirby	Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival
Leaf, Munro	The Story of Ferdinand
Lester, Helen	Hooway for Wodney Wat
Lester, Helen	Score One for the Sloths
Levine, Ellen	Henry’s Freedom Box
Long, Melinda	How I Became a Pirate
Lovell, Patty	Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Martin, Rafe	The Rough-Face Girl
Mosel, Arlene	Tikki Tikki Tembo
Munsch, Robert	The Paper Bag Princess
Munsch, Robert	Purple, Green, and Yellow
Munson, Derek	Enemy Pie
Nash, Ogden	The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Nolen, Jerdine	Thunder Rose
Peet, Bill	The Whingdingdilly
Reneaux, J.J.	Why Alligator Hates Dog
Salley, Coleen	Epossumondas
Schachner, Judy	Skippyjon Jones
Schwartz, David	If You Hopped Like a Frog
Scieszka, Jon	The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Sendak, Maurice	Where the Wild Things Are
Seuss, Dr.	And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
Shannon, David	A Bad Case of Stripes
Shannon, David	No, David
Sharratt, Nick	Shark in the Park
Sierra, Judy	Wild about Books
Simms, Laura	Rotten Teeth
Steptoe, John	Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
Stone, Jon	The Monster at the End of This Book
Sweet, Melissa	Carmine, a Little More Red
Tankard, Jeremy	Grumpy Bird
Turner, Pamela S.	Hachiko, the True Story of a Loyal Dog
Viorst, Judith	Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Watt, Melanie	Chester
Watt, Melanie	Scaredy Squirrel
Williams, Vera B.	A Chair for My Mother
Zweibel, Alan	Our Tree Named Steve

Favorite Reads: Halloween

This is a completely unscientific compilation of some of my favorite Halloween reads.  Enjoy!

Little L’s Favorite:

Five Little Pumpkins adapted and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

Toddler Storytime Favorite:

Peek-a-Boooo! by Marie Torres Cimarusti; illustrated by Stephanie Peterson

Preschool Storytime Favorite:

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams; illustrated by Megan Lloyd

Childhood Favorite:

Popcorn by Frank Asch; illustrated by author

Fun Folktale:

Who Took My Hairy Toe? by Shutta Crum; illustrated by Katya Krenina

Classic Folktale:

Tailypo: A Ghost Story by Joanna Galdone; illustrated by Paul Galdone

Favorite Ghost Story Collector:

Daniel Cohen (multiple titles)

Classic Chapter Book:

Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe; illustrated by Alan Daniel

New Chapter Book Favorite:

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein

Great Recent Read:

The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson

Classic Story Collection:

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark adapted by Alvin Schwartz; illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Story Collection for the Older Crowd:

Vacations from Hell by various YA authors

Classic Teen Favorite:

Chain Letter by Christopher Pike

Contemporary Teen Favorite:

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Reading As a New Mama

Since the birth of Little L the amount of time I spend reading has definitely diminished.  That doesn’t mean I haven’t done any reading though.  I have of course found some time to read up on infant development and even squeezed in a little pleasure reading, too.

When I was pregnant with Little L, I pored over two pregnancy books in particular – Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel’s What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler’s Your Pregnancy Week by Week.  I loved these books – I was practically addicted to them, constantly reading and rereading passages.

So after Little L was born, I thought I would be just as into reading the “sequels” to those books – What to Expect the First Year (Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel, Arlene Eisenberg, and Sandee Hathaway) and Your Baby’s First Year Week by Week (also Curtis and Schuler).

However, that hasn’t really been the case.  I have no criticism of these books, it’s just that Little L came six weeks early, so he hasn’t hit his developmental milestones at the same time as a so-called “normal” baby.  Not that any baby develops at exactly the same rate as any other.  It’s just that tracking his development the same way I tracked my pregnancy doesn’t really work.  I do have a hand-me-down copy of Your Baby’s First Year by the American Academy of Pediatrics from my sister that I do refer to, knowing that I have to subtract six weeks from Little L’s actual age to adjust for where he should be developmentally.

It has been a good solid resource filled with all the basic, practical information a new parent can use, and a new edition just came out last month.

Because Little L was born prematurely I found myself turning to two books in particular during the first month or so after his birth – Preemies: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies by Dana Wechsler Linden, Emma Trenti Paroli, and Mia Wechsler Doron and The Premature Baby Book: Everything You Need to About Your Premature Baby from Birth to Age One by James, Martha, Robert, and William Sears.  Both of these books helped me understand what I might experience over the next few months with my baby and how best to care for him.  These books are very detailed and full of important information.

Let me just say here that Little L has always been very healthy.  He did have to stay in the NICU for his first three weeks, but that was just so he could learn to eat on his own and put on some weight.  My husband and I are so grateful and feel so blessed that he has not had to endure the difficult journey many premature babies do.

However, even though I found both of these books extremely helpful and would recommend them to any parent of a premature baby, I couldn’t always bring myself to read them.  I especially had a hard time opening them up during those three weeks Little L was in the hospital.  It’s a difficult thing to leave the hospital without your newborn, even when you know he’s doing fine and is being cared for by excellent doctors and nurses.  On more than one occasion I broke down in tears while reading these books.  I hated being separated from my little boy, I felt bad that he had such a rough start to his life, and I felt so, so sorry for those parents of other premature babies having to deal with the major complications and health problems described in the books.

It was at those times when I couldn’t bear to read another sentence about sick little babies that I met a new literary friend – Sookie Stackhouse.  Yes, instead of moping and feeling blue, I read about Charlaine Harris’ young waitress, her vampire boyfriend, and their supernatural adventures.  I know this series may seem like an odd choice for my situation, but sometimes you just need an escape, and the Sookie Stackhouse series definitely fills that need.  I’ve only read the first three books in the series so far, but I’m totally hooked.

Oh, and one more title that any new parent can use: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth.

Even though Little L is not a fussy baby, it isn’t always easy to get him to sleep.  This is another book recommended by my sister, whose own son is a year and a half older than mine.  She’s been a great resource for me.  Weissbluth gives down-to-earth advice on how to get your child to sleep better, and even though my husband and I have not been perfect about following his instructions, this has been a great guide.  The book is broken down by age, with tips for each level, and Weissbluth does address prematurity and how it affects sleep development, which I appreciate.

Remember – it is possible for a new parent to fit in a little reading, and I highly recommend it for maintaining your sanity!