As I’ve mentioned, we’ve been studying the various continents and have found a wealth of great books from the Asian continent. Here are a few of our favorites–and my Charlie is one picky guy!
A rhythmic and delightful story about the preparation of the traditional Korean dish Bee-Bim Bop. It follows a mother and child as they shop, prepare, cook, and eat this meal. I pleasure to read and quick for those of you who have kids with short attention spans. My favorite part is that there’s a recipe for cooking Bee-Bim Bop in the back of the book. We even tried it out!
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
A classic story that I remember enjoying as a child. It tells the story of why Chinese parents give their children short names. This book is wordier than a lot of the ones I try with my son, but it has become one of his absolute favorites. When given a choice, he ALWAYS chooses to read this one.
Described as “a Thai lullaby” this is a simple and melodic story about a mother trying to make it quiet enough for her baby to sleep. Simple enough for younger children, older children will enjoy checking out baby’s shenanigans and mother tries to quiet her farm.
A fable about a young Chinese boy, a contest to become the next emperor, and the importance of honesty. Lovely pictures are definitely part of the appeal of this book.
I may have enjoyed this one more than my son! It’s short, easy-to-read story about a mother frog and her sons who never do what they’re told. I think the silliness of the young frogs will delight many children.
Katy is a mom of three who loves art, mystery novels, and anything involving peanut butter–she blogs about raising her little miracles at Bird on the Street.
14 Responses to “Books About Asia For Kids”
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So excited to see two books based on Korean culture! I bought The Green Frogs for my son and we love that story! The illustrations are fun too. Thanks for sharing a post about books that share Asian culture!
Of course, I love this – I love your international-themed posts! I appreciate the book suggestions – I haven’t read some of these! Have a great day.
So cool we have missionary friends in southeast asia and these will be great for us.
This is perfect! My son was born in Korea – and we love Bee Bim Bop
Great List! We checked out Bee Bim Bop! from the library last year and make it all the time now. I love books with recipes in the back. I’ll have to check out the rest of your list.
Great post! We’ve been learning a lot about China ever since New Year! My kids are hooked plus they take Mandarin so it all ties in! Love it!
Thanks for sharing your book list! Bee Bim Bop is a personal favorite
. I have many fond memories of Tikki Tikki Tembo from my own childhood, but was interested to read this recent blog post on the book (and thought it was well worth a share): http://www.gracelinblog.com/2012/04/rethinking-tikki-tikki-tembo.html
Love, love, love Tikki Tikki Tembo but it’s a guilty pleasure. It shouldn’t be on this list. It’s a little like putting “Little Black Sambo” on a list of books about India. Very negative stereotypes and I don’t think either the author or the illustrator was even asian.
Great resources here! Thanks for sharing
I have read Tikki Tikki Tembo with my kids, but not the others. Must request from my local library!
Wonderful choices. We just read The Road to Mumbai and enjoyed it a lot. I will probably review it some time next week.
My wife loves Tiki tiki Tembo and often recites bits from it. I never read it as a kid but it’s definitely on our watch list to grab for the boys. Thanks.
Thank you! We are currently traveling the world as well. This list will be very helpful when we get to Asia!
Thanks for the great ideas of new books for our collection!
Asia is obviously a huge continent that has many countries and cultures in it (I think most people usually only think of China, Korea, and Japan). Do you have any suggestions for the rest of Asia like India, Russia, or the Middle East?
Thanks!