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AAPI Picture Books

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Recommendations May 19, 2024

Watercress  
Andrea Wang
Neal Porter Books

While driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s Chinese immigrant parents spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road.  They stop the car, grabbing rusty scissors and an old paper bag, and the whole family wades into the mud to gather as much as they can.

At first, she’s embarrassed. Why can’t her family just get food from the grocery store, like everyone else? But when her mother shares a bittersweet story of her family history in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged—and the memories left behind in pursuit of a new life.

Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

Author Andrea Wang calls this moving, autobiographical story “both an apology and a love letter to my parents.”  It’s a bittersweet, delicate look at how sharing the difficult parts of our histories can create powerful new moments of family history, and help connect us to our roots.

Jason Chin’s illustrations move between China and the American Midwest and were created with a mixture of traditional Chinese brushes and western media. The dreamy, nostalgic color palette brings this beautiful story to life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Punky Aloha
Shar Tuiasoa
HarperCollins

Meet Punky Aloha—a spunky Polynesian girl who uses the power of saying aloha to make friends and experience new, exciting, and unexpected adventures in this debut picture book by author-illustrator Shar Tuiasoa.

Punky loves to do a lot of things—except meeting new friends. She doesn’t feel brave enough. So when her grandmother asks her to go out and grab butter for her famous banana bread, Punky hesitates.

But with the help of her grandmother’s magical sunglasses and a lot of aloha in her heart, Punky sets off on a BIG adventure for the very first time.

Will she be able to get the butter for grandma?

 

 

 

 

 

Brown is Beautiful
Supriya Kelkar
FSG

For fans of I Am Golden, an empowering picture book about a South Asian girl who recognizes the beauty of her own brown skin as she finds and collects beautiful brown things during a walk in the woods—by an award-winning South Asian author!Brown is beautiful.

On a hike with her grandparents, a young Indian-American girl makes note of all the things in the wilderness that are brown, too. From a nurturing mother bear, to the steadiness of deep twisting roots, to the beauty of a wild mustang, brown is everywhere! On her way, the girl collects the beautiful brown things she encounters as mementos for a scrap book to share with a very special new addition to her family—a baby brother.

Brown is you.
Brown is me.

Here is an uplifting, tender exploration of beauty, joy, and self-love, with playful illustrations by rising star and South Asian illustrator Noor Sofi.

 

Built to Last  
Minh Le
Knopf Books for Young Readers

Two kids build entire worlds out of blocks, cardboard, and imagination. From boats attacked by a sea creature to a castle crumbling into the ocean. And they don’t mind when these creations break apart and CRASH to the floor. In fact, they think it’s pretty funny! Every time, a creation falls apart, they pick up the pieces and keep building bigger and better.

But when their latest masterpiece tumbles down in spectacular fashion, the boys aren’t laughing anymore. Have these two friends reached their breaking point?

Playful text by wordsmith Minh Le and dazzling illustrations by artisan Dan Santat showcase their close collaboration in their latest picturebook. As merry as it is moving, here is a story that recognizes the friendships in life that are truly built to last.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eyes That Weave the World’s Wonders
Joanna Ho
HarperCollins

rom New York Times bestselling author Joanna Ho and award-winning author-educator Liz Kleinrock, a transracial adoptee, comes a new companion to Eyes That Kiss in the Corners. A young girl who is adopted learns to love her Asian eyes and finds familial connection and meaning through them, even though they look different from her parents’.

A young girl who is a transracial adoptee learns to appreciate the differences in her family and celebrate them. Even though her adopted family may look different from her, their bond is deep and their connection is filled with love. She wonders about her birth mom and comes to appreciate both her birth culture and her adopted family’s culture, for even though they may seem very different, they are both a part of her, and that is what makes her beautiful.

 

 

 

 

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