Children's Books Sharing Different Cultures and Languages

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

I love sharing books that teach us about different cultures and languages. Today I have four books to share with you and two of them are being released this week! The first book is about a Korean word that means so much and doesn't have an English equivalent. The book is Jeong Is Jeong by Jessica Yoon and illustrated by Michelle Lee. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

Making Summer Fun and Educational

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We are in final exam week at our school. The stress levels are high everywhere. But it also means that school is almost done, and summer is almost here. Summer can be so much fun, but it can also be a time for kids to lose some of their learning. Today I am sharing some products to give you and your kids some fun activities as well as learning in fun ways! We will begin with some creative activity books. Today (May 30th) is National Creativity Day and these books are perfect to get your kids and you creating and having fun! The first  are two books by Alberto Lot. There is Crayon Racing which I reviewed a couple of years ago and Crayon Adventures. They are recommended for ages 4 to 8 or as the publisher states 4 to 104. I know my high school students have been having lots of fun with them!

Maria Orosa -- New Picture Book Sharing the Life of This Filipino Heroine

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Summer is supposed to be my time to relax, and I have loads of ideas and books to share with you, but the last few weeks are just crazy. Today I am finally focusing enough to share a new book with you. This book shares about het life of Maria Orosa, who was a Filipino heroine. The book is Maria Orosa Freedom Fighter, Scientist and Inventor from the Philippines by Norma Olizon-Chikiamco and illustrated by Mark Salvatus. It is recommended for ages 9 to 14.

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey -- Book Review

 

Disclosure: I am working with The Children's Book Review and Harper Collins Publishers to participate in this blog tour. I was sent a copy of this book and will receive a small compensation for my review. All opinions are my own.

Yesterday we kicked off our celebration of Asian-American Heritage Month. Today's book features a young Filipino-American girl so it is perfect for this month. The book is Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly. Today is the release day of this book!! The book is recommended for ages 7 to 12 but I think the sweet spot is for 6 to 9. This is definitely an emerging reader novel thanks to the pictures throughout and larger print size. 

Books to Celebrate Filipino American History Month

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you know October is Filipino American History Month? Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian American group in the nation. They are third largest ethnic group in California (after Latinos and Blacks). October was chosen because it commemorates the first Filipino to step foot on the continental United States. On October 18, 1587, Luzones Indios came ashore at what is now Morro Bay, California, from Nuestro Senora de Esperanza, a Spanish galleon. In 2009 the United States Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month. (Source) To celebrate I thought we would look at some books about the Philippines and their culture. 

Our Japanese Tea Party -- Exploring Japan with Tea Parties Around the World

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.


So last month our plan was to have a Japanese tea party for Tea Parties Around the World, but life interfered and our tea party happened in May instead, but this is perfect since it is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. So through April and into May we have been exploring Japan. Now Japan is known for its tea ceremony. It sounds so fancy and has an interesting history. To learn more about the tea ceremony we read Tea Ceremony by Shozo Sato.



This book covers everything from a brief history of tea and the types of tea in Japan to the history of the tea ceremony itself. It also gives steps on how to have a tea ceremony at home. We did not try this because I am a bit intimidated by the tea ceremony and I do not feel like we have the right space for it. I had hoped to find a local place that offers them, but I couldn't. The process of the making the tea is a huge part of the Japanese tea ceremony. It is about finding peace and harmony with one's guests. In Japan how the food and drink look is as important if not more important than how it tastes, so presentation is a huge thing in the ceremony. There are different supplies and displays for a traditional tea ceremony.


The book goes into the various utensils and types of them often used in the tea ceremony. There are also various steps to the ceremony with various spaces of each one. There are also various steps to making the actual tea. This book gives beautiful photograph tutorials to them.

It is a fun book to learn about this amazing tradition. It provides kids with what they need to know to try their own.


To learn more about Japan we checked out some DVDs from the library and of course turned to our favorite resource All About Japan. Unfortunately I can't seem to find the photos I took of our DVDs. We took the ones above as well as some folktale ones. We love to get the culture of the country through stories. In the past we have had the pleasure of reviewing The Last Kappa of Old Japan, The Peace Tree from Hiroshima, Once Upon a Time in Japan, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories and Yuko-Chan and the Daruma Doll.


Plus another favorite resource for us is The Magic Tree House series.


Now we know a bit about Japan and its culture so we will tell you about our tea party and our Japanese craft. For our tea party we went to David's Tea and asked our friend there for a good Japanese tea. He sold us Sencha Ashikubo.


He gave me the warning of not steeping too much because it will get a very grassy taste. It was too grassy for us, but we tried it. I used our Chinese tea cups and a tea pot I felt looked a bit Japanese. (It was a gift, so I do not know the history of it.)


We also found some instant Japanese soups to try. Since we were a bit busy we did not try to make anything from scratch this time.



We put a little of each soup into our regular tea cups so we could each try it. We liked the udon soup better than the miso.



To go with our tea party I wanted to do a craft. We found a fun craft making kokeshi dolls in this book.


They are usually simple wooden dolls.



Kokeshi By Kimivanil (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Ours are made from origami paper (ours is from Tuttle Publishing), a toilet paper roll and a ping pong ball. I made one but Hazel has not gotten around to making hers yet.


Hazel loves how mine came out though. What do you think? Now I also have sewn a kimono for Hazel's 18-inch dolls.



So that is our exploration of Japan with a Japanese tea party. This post is part of the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway!!



Welcome to our fourth annual Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway! Follow along all month for ideas about sharing with kids the rich cultures of this vast and varied region. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway below and link up your posts at the bottom of the page. For even more ideas, visit our blog hops from last year, 2015 and 2014. You can also follow our Asia and Australia & Oceania boards on Pinterest.

May 1 Miss Panda Chinese on Multicultural Kid Blogs: 10 Fun Facts About Taiwan for Kids
May 5 Chinese American Family: Visiting Locke and Connecting with California's Rural Chinese History
May 9 Kori at Home
May 11 The Art Curator for Kids: Chinese Bronze Vessels with Abstract Zoomorphic Designs
May 12 Kori at Home
May 15 Crafty Moms Share
May 17 Bicultural Mama
May 19 Wise Owl Factory
May 22 Ketchup Moms on Multicultural Kid Blogs
May 23 All Done Monkey
May 25 Miss Panda Chinese
May 30 All Done Monkey
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Giveaway Enter below for a chance to win one of our great prize packages in our annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month giveaway! The giveaway goes from May 1 to May 31, 2017, at midnight PT. If the winner falls outside the shipping area of a prize, that prize will revert to the next lower prize package. Read our full giveaway rules. And for all of our readers, here is a special offer from our sponsor Tingomo! Use the code TENOFFTINGOMO to get 10% off any pre-order! (first kits to ship in July)
Grand Prize
From One Dear World: Set of 4 plush multicultural dolls, each with its own passport, plus the story book The Adventure of Hat Hunting in London, starring the dolls as the main characters
From Tuttle Publishing: Adventures in Asian Art, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Malaysian Children's Favorite Stories, and Filipino Children's Favorite Stories
From Wisdom Tales: Rock Maiden - US Shipping Only
From Bollywood Groove: Go on a fun adventure with Maya & Neel and learn about famous festivals and places in India! In this very colorful, three-picture-book series, kids will learn about festival of lights - Diwali (Amazon best-seller), festival of colors - Holi and the home of Bollywood - city of Mumbai. US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner's choice of an "Everyday" learning unit with audio links
From Tingomo: Passport Craft™ Kit: Make Your Own NEPAL Paper Lanterns US Shipping Only, will ship in July

1st Prize
From World Music with Daria: set of tingsha (handbells) US Shipping Only
From Quarto Knows: Summer Under the Tamarind Tree, I is for Iran, and 50 Things You Should Know About the Vietnam War - US Shipping Only
From Monika Schröder: Saraswati's Way - US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner's choice of an "Everyday" learning unit with audio links
From Tingomo: Passport Craft™ Kit: Make Your Own NEPAL Paper Prayer Flags US Shipping Only, will ship in July

2nd Prize
From The Dumpling Mama: Pack of 20 good luck envelopes: Give good luck wishes with money in a red envelope. Perfect for Lunar New Year, birthdays, graduations, and holidays US/Canada Shipping Only
From Kathleen Burkinshaw: The Last Cherry Blossom - US Shipping Only
From Candlewick Press: A Piece of Home and Bronze and Sunflower - US Shipping Only From Miss Panda Chinese:
Winner's choice of an "Everyday" learning unit with audio links a Rafflecopter giveaway
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All About the Philippines -- Multicultural Monday Book Review

 Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Today I get to share with you the latest book int the All About Series at Tuttle Publishing. I love this series!! The books are perfect for learning about each country with stories, crafts, recipes and information and so much more!! Like the other books: Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and China, All About the Philippines by Gidget Roceles Jimenez and illustrated by Corazon Dandan-Albano  goes into so many details about the Philippines as well as the culture. 

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures: Abadeha: the Philippine Cinderella

I am doing our Fairy Tale in Different Cultures a day early. I am hoping to have our dish from Croatia tomorrow. I hope you will come see what we make!

Continuing with our Asian-Pacific theme for May, I thought I would share another Cinderella tale this time from the Philippines. The book is Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella adapted by Myrna J. de la Paz. Before I share the story and craft, a bit about the Philippines.

Source: Lonely Planet

The Philippines is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia. It lies in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of over 7,000 islands. The total area of the country is about 115,831 square miles making it the 64th largest country in the world. It is a constitutional republic with a presidential system. Filipino and English are the official languages however there are over 171 living languages spoken there. The capital is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon city. It is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator and as a result is prone to earthquakes and typhoons. Its rainforests and coastlines provide diverse ranges of birds, animals and plants. It has one of the highest discovery rates in the world with sixteen new species of mammals discovered in the last ten years. They have many unique species of animals as well as plants like many rare orchids and rafflesia.

In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan arrived and claimed the islands for Spain. The Spanish established Manilla as the capital city in 1571. The Spanish fought many wars with indigenous people as well as other countries for control of the Philippines. The Spanish introduced the idea of free public schooling as well as Christianity. They also brought many different types of food from the Americas like pineapple, corn, chili peppers and tomatoes. In 1898, Spain sold their rights to the United States for 20 million dollars as part of the 1898 Treaty of Paris. In 1935 the Philippines were granted Commonwealth status. During World War II the Japanese Empire invaded and took control until the Allied Forces defeated them in 1945. The Philippines became a founding member of the United Nations and the United States recognized its independence in 1946. 

Now onto our story. The story begins as many Cinderella tales do. A fisherman named Abek, his wife, Abadesa, and their beautiful daughter, Abadeha, live happily  in the islands called the Philippines. When Abadeha is thirteen her mother suddenly gets sick and dies. Abek and Abadeha are filled with sorrow. Eventually Abek marries a widow from another island who has two daughters of her own. He hopes to make a loving family for himself and Abadeha. However the stepmother immediately notice how plain and mean-spirited her daughters are in comparison to Abadeha. Abek is away from the home more since he has a larger family to support and while he is away the stepmother mistreats Abadeha making her work from morning to night cleaning the house, cooking all the meals, fetching the water from the river and tending the stove. She is often covered with soot and each night she is so tired she falls asleep on the kitchen floor. Her stepsisters began to tease her for her dirtiness. The stepmother begins to throw impossible tasks for Abadeha to do like change a black handkerchief to white and a white one to black or she will be whipped. Abadeha goes to the river crying and missing her mother. She cries out a prayer of sorts to her mother and the creator of earth. Suddenly the Spirit of the Forest appears and promises Abadeha that all of her hard work and patience will be rewarded. Then she changes the handkerchiefs for her. When Abadeha returns home, her stepmother is angry that she was able to do it. The next morning she has Abadeha spread newly harvested rice on a mat to dry and then pound the winnow and cook the rice for the evening meal. While Abadeha works in the kitchen a wild pig wanders into the yard and eats the rice while the stepmother watches. The stepmother does nothing until the pig has left and then tortures Abadeha and tells her she must mend the mat that the pig shredded.  Abadeha takes the shreds of mat to the river and says her prayer again. The Spirit of the Forest comes even quicker this time. She has female spirits quickly repair the mat and gives Abadeha a sarimanok. A sarimanok is a chicken with a long flowing tail and feathers the color of the rainbow. The stepmother is annoyed again when she sees Abadeha has completed the task. She takes the sarimanok from her and tells her she will take care of her pet for her. Early the next morning she chops off its head and feet and begins cooking it for dinner. Abadeha sees it and weeps. She grabs its feet and runs to the river. The Spirit tells her to bury the feet by her mother's grave and to pray to her ancestors. She does this and plants a garden around her mother's grave as well. It is awhile before she returns to her mother's grave and when she does she discovers a tree filled with treasures like jewelry and gowns. She grabs a few pieces of jewelry and keeps the enchanted tree to herself. 

While hunting in the forest, the son of the island chieftain saw a sarimanok. He followed it to Abadeha's secret garden. He took a ring from the tree and put it on his finger. When he returned home his finger began to swell and he could not get the ring off. He told his father about his finger and how he was in great pain. His father sent for the Babaylan, the priest healer. The Babylan told him he had to listen to his heart. That night the pain in the prince's finger was so great and he had a dream where a sarimanok brings him an orchid and when the prince kisses the flower it turns into a beautiful maiden who shows him the ring in her hand. He tells his father of the dream and his father announces that the girl who can remove the ring from his son's finger will marry his son. When Abadeha heard this announcement she asked her stepmother to go and her stepmother locked her in the kitchen and then went to take a nap. The Spirit of the Forest came and unlocked the door for her. When she arrived her stepsisters were there. They began to yell at her for being there. The prince heard the commotion and asked Abadeha to come to him. She lovingly was able to take the ring off his finger even if she was dressed in rags. The prince was overjoyed and married her. Abadeha wore the golden gown and the jewelry from the enchanted tree. Her father came home just in time for the wedding. The prince banished the stepmother and her daughters to the chicken yard. Abadeha and the prince shared their happiness and wealth with the people on the islands and lived in peace and love and harmony. 

In the author's note it is mentioned that this story is a traditional Philippine folktale that has disappeared from mainstream Philippine folk literature. With more than 300 years of Spanish colonization and a century of Americanization this is a common casualty there. She wanted to record the story before it was lost forever.

As a craft I made a paper plate sarimanok. I did it similar to the sea gulls Hazel and I made at the library a few weeks ago. I added the red comb and the tail of rainbow feathers. It is very easy.

For other Asian-Pacific Island Cinderella tales check out:

• Golden Sandals: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Tale
• The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Cinderella Tale
• Chinese Cinderella Tales
• The Korean Cinderella
• Kongi and Potgi: A Cinderella Tale from Korea
• Kao and the Golden Fish A Cinderella tale from Thailand
• The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Tale from Indonesia

Hazel Cooks Pancit --Inspired by Readathon 2012

As I mentioned yesterday this week's theme for the Readathon at Memetales is Global Culture. One of the books that is free this week is Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Lazo Gilmore. Well, after reading it we were inspired to try to make pancit.

Back to our post. Cora is a young child with three older sisters and an older brother. Since she is the youngest she does not get to help with the cooking, but cannot wait to get her chance. One day all of her siblings go out and she asks her mother to teach her how to cook. She gets to do the jobs her older siblings usually each do when they make pancit--one of her favorite Filipino meals. In the story Cora gets to soak the rice noodles, test the noodles for softness, shred the chicken and stir in the noodles.

MemeTales Readathon Week 6: Global Culture

The books for this week are Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Lazo Gilmore, Good Fortune in a Wrapping Cloth by Joan Schoettler, Mandy and Pandy Say "Ni Hao Ma?" by Chris Lin and Mandy and Pandy Visit China by Chris Lin.

The Mandy and Pandy stories are meant to introduce the child to Chinese and have both English and Chinse in them.I will admit I am not good at pronouncing the Chinese, but I did try. Cora Cooks Pancit is about a Filipino family and cooking a favorite meal. Good Fortune in a Wrapping Cloth takes place in Korea. Since they were all focused in Asia, we did Asian crafts.