Grandma Panda's China Storybook: Legends, Traditions, and Fun Hardcover – March 5, 2013

Mingmei Yip’s cleaver use of Grandma Panda to tell the tales of the legends and traditions of China is sure to catch the attention of young ones. She is also the illustrator and has finished the book with beautiful, colorful watercolors.GRANDMA PANDA’S CHINA STORYBOOK is an excellent way to introduce your young children to the culture and traditions of China. I heartily recommend this book to parents, grandparents, and teachers of early elementary age children.

I bought this for my friends' kids and they love the colorful pictures. The stories are also of a good length so they not exhaust the kids' attention span.

As an educator, I was taught that one of the best ways for a child to learn about another culture is through that nation's folk and fairy tales. If you would like your child to get an introduction into Chinese heritage a wonderful place to start is with the book, "Grandma Panda's China Storybook." With it's appealing and colorful illustrations the book is comprised of bits of wisdom that Grandma Panda shares with little Baobao and Lingling. Grandma is so full of love and kindness for these little ones that I found myself wishing I could go visit her for a summer. The book starts off with a feast, a Dim Sum feast. Read the story to find out why "Dim Sum" means "heart toucher." The story that explains Chinese writing does so in such an accessible way that it will help a young learner understand Chinese characters. Yip has included the story of the "Brave Woman Warrior," Mulan. What an inspiring story for girls. The story called, "The Pained Faces of Chinese Opera" gives an introduction as to why the masks in Chinese opera are so vividly painted. What a nice introduction to an ancient land, full of such rich history. These stories could be read aloud to little ones or they're just perfect for a child in elementary school who has learned to read. Each story offers just the right amount of history to provide a good talking point, whether in a classroom or around the dining room table. And speaking of the dining room table, my mouth is watering for some Dim Sum.

We won this book through Miss Panda blog. My four and two year old boys love it! I love it too!. The illustrations are bright and the stories are short enough to read them all each time they grab the book. I act them out in Spanish and you can use a panda bear to make it more fun. The book shows parts of Chinese culture that I have not seen in other books (and I have many!). The stories are about food, kung fu, Mulan, dragons, chinese opera, calligraphy.. very engaging!! We are learning Mandarin at home and this book gives us ideas for learning about Chinese culture. We have practiced the Kung fu posses already and we are about to learn about Chinese opera soon. Yes! they wanted to paint their faces! Great book!!

Mingmei Yip's second picture book for children is a charming little adventure in food and culture. Whether you are of Chinese ancestry and want to help your children be in touch with their cultural roots or you are not and want your children to be exposed to many cultures, you can't go wrong with this delightfully illustrated and hand-lettered story. Good job, Ms. Yip!