Children's Books
Bishop, Claire Huchet. The Five Chinese Brothers. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1938. A classic folk tale.
Blumburg, Rhoda. Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1985. Illustrated. Middle school.
Coatsworth, Elizabeth. Cricket and the Emperor’s Son. New York: W. W. Norton, 1965. A poor apprentice tells seven stories to the Emperor’s son. Upper elementary grades.
Compestine, Ying Chang. The Runaway Rice Cake. New York: Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers, 2001.
Compestine, Ying Chang. The Story of Chopsticks. New York: Holiday House, 2001.
Compestine, Ying Chang. The Story of Paper. New York: Holiday House, 2003. Contains a recipe for making paper.
Demi. The Greatest Power. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2004. A Chinese Emperor challenges the children in his kingdom to show him the greatest power in the world. Informative about the history of China. Beautiful illustrations. Ages 5-10.
Drummond, Allan. The Willow Pattern Story. New York: North-South Books, 1992. A legend about the origin of the well-known blue willow porcelain pattern that was created in England in the 19th century, reflecting the widespread interest in all things Chinese. Ages 5-10.
Flack, Marjorie. The Story about Ping. New York: Viking Press, 1933. A little duck has an adventure on the Yangtze River. Early elementary.
Fridell, Ron and Patricia Walsh. Life Cycle of a Silkworm, Revised and Updated. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2009.
Fritz, Jean: Homesick: My Own Story. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press, 2001, c1982. A memoir of an American girl growing up in China in the 1920s. Upper elementary grades.
Gower, Cathering. Long-Long’s New Year: A Story about the Chinese Spring Festival. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 2005.
Haslam, Andrew and Clare Doran. Japan. Make it Work. Princeton, New Jersey: Two Can Publishing, LLC, 2001. This book has many great craft projects as well as information about Japan.
Hong, Chen Jiang. The Legend of the Kite: A Story of China. Norwalk, Connecticut: Soundprints, 1997.
Hong, Lily Toy. The Empress and the Silkworm. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company, 1995. A legend about the origin of silk.
Louis, Catherine. Liu and the Bird: A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy. New York: North-South Books, 2003. This story incorporates the origin of Chinese symbols.
Louis, Catherine. My Little Book of Chinese Words. New York: North-South Books, 2004.
Nishimura, Shigeo. An Illustrated History of Japan. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2005. Overview of Japanese history from pre-historic to modern times. Nice illustrations. Elementary grades.
Noyes, Deborah. Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2007.
Paterson, Katherine. The Master Puppeteer. New York: Harper-Collins, 1975. Novel about 18th century Japan. Middle/High School.
Rumford, James. The Cloudmakers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996. A boy and his grandfather are captured by Arabs and gain their freedom through the art of making paper.
Shepard, Aaron. The Magic Brocade: A Tale of China. Union City, California: Edustar Press, 2000.
Simonds, Nina, Leslie Swartz & the Children’s Museum of Boston. Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2002.
Yip, Mingmei. Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, n.d.