San Francisco Public Library

Books for Young People on the Asian American Experience

Picture Stories | Folktales | Fiction | Nonfiction

Picture Stories

jPS - Ages 10+
Garland, Sherry,
The Lotus Seed.
Illus. by Tatsuro Kiuchi. Harcourt Brace, 1993.
A grandmother's attachment to a lotus seed symbolizes a Vietnamese American family's continuity.

jPS - Ages 7+
Gerstein, Mordicai,
The Mountains of Tibet.
HarperCollins, 1987.
Given the choice after death of going to heaven or living in any form and place, a Tibetan woodcutter makes a marvellous choice.

jPS - Ages 6-9
Lee, Jeanne M. Silent,
Lotus.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1991.
Although unable to hear or speak, Lotus becomes a Khmer court dancer, expressing herself through dancing the legends of the gods.

jPS - Ages 8+
Say, Allen.
Grandfather's Journey.
Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
A Japanese man's sojourn in America leaves him torn between two different countries.

jPS - Ages 9-12
Surat, Michele Maria,
Angel Child, Dragon Child.
Illus. by Vo-Dinh Mai. Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1983.
Longing for her mother who was left behind in Vietnam, Ut has trouble holding her own at a new American school.

jPS - Ages 5-7
Yashima, Taro,
Umbrella.
Viking, 1958.
Momo learns to take her first steps out alone.

jPS - Ages 5-7
Young, Ed.
Seven Blind Mice.
Philomel, 1992.
Visually-challenged rodents draw differing conclusions about what they feel.

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Folktales

j398 Blia - Ages 5-10
Blia, Xiong,
Nine-in-One, Grr! Grr! A Folktale from the Hmong People of Laos.
Illus. By Nancy Hom. Children's Book Press, 1989. (Hmong)
Blackbird tricks gods and tigers to preserve creation

j398 Gins - Ages 3-10
Ginsburg, Mirra,
The Chinese Mirror.
Illus. By Margot Zemach. Harcourt Brace, 1988. (Korean)
A mirror causes havoc in a remote Korean village

j398 Hama - Ages 3-7
Hamanaka, Sheila,
Screen of Frogs: An Old Tale.
Orchard, 1993. (Japanese)
An extravagant young man learns about life from magical frogs

j398 Han - Ages 6-12
Han, Oki S.,
Sir Whong and the Golden Pig.
Dial, 1993. (Korean)
The cheated cleverly and patiently outsmarts the cheat.

j398 Hong - Ages 5-8
Hong, Lily Toy,
Two of Everything.
A. Whitman, 1993. (Chinese)
Magic pot makes man rich until his wife falls in

j398 Rapp - Ages 8-13
Rappaport, Doreen,
The Journey of Meng: A Chinese Legend.
Illus. By Yang Ming-Yi. Dial, 1991. (Chinese)
Faithful wife, tyrant king, the Great Wall, grizzly story.

j398 Rhee - Ages 3-8
Rhee, Nami,
Magic Spring: A Korean Folktale.
Putnam, 1993. (Korean)
A fountain of youth renews even the villain.

j398 Shep - Ages 7-12
Shepard, Aaron,
Savitri: A Tale of Ancient India.
Illus. by Vera Rosenberry. A. Whitman, 1992. (Hindi)
A determined woman brings her husband back from the dead.

j398 Snyd - Ages 3-8
Snyder, Dianne,
The Boy of the Three-Year Nap.
Illus. by Allen Say. Houghton Mifflin, 1988. (Japanese)
Taro outwits local merchant, but mother knows best.

j398 Spag - Ages 5-10
Spagnoli, Cathy and Wall, Lina Mao,
Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia.
Illus. by Nancy Hom. Children's Book Press, 1991. (Cambodian)
A wise rabbit gets to the bottom of marital discord.

j398 Uchi - Ages 6-10
Uchida, Yoshiko,
The Magic Purse.
Illus. by Keiko Narahashi. McElderry, 1993. (Japanese)
Kindness to goblins pays off

j398.21 Vuon - Ages 10-13
Vuong, Lynette Dyer,
Sky Legends of Vietnam.
Illus. by Vo-Dinh Mai. HarperCollins, 1993. (Vietnamese)
Vietnamese tales explaining the cosmos.

j398 Watk - Ages 9-12
Watkins, Yoko Kawashima,
Tales from the Bamboo Grove.
Illus. by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng. Bradbury, 1992. (Japanese)
Lesser-known Japanese and Ainu tales.

j398 Yep - Ages 8-13
Yep, Laurence,
The Rainbow People.
Illus. by David Wiesner. HarperCollins, 1989. (Chinese)
Folktales of the first Chinese settlers in America.

j398 Youn - Ages 5-9
Young, Ed,
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China.
Philomel, 1989. (Chinese)
Three sisters outmaneuver a bogus grandmother

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Fiction

jF - Ages 9-13
Bordewich, Fergus M.,
Peach Blossom Spring.
Illus. by Yang Ming-Yi. Green Tiger, 1994.
Retelling of a classic and poignant Chinese tale of a paradise found and lost.

jF - Ages 12-13
Crew, Linda,
Children of the River.
Delacorte, 1989.
Sundara is torn between her Cambodian heritage and life in Oregon.

jF - Ages 9-11
Gilson, Jamie,
Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs.
Illus. by John Wallner. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1985.
Harvey tries to Americanize 12-year-old Tuan with mixed results.

jF - Ages 8-12
Gogol, Sara,
Vatsana's Lucky New Year.
Lerner, 1992.
Vatsana can't decide whether she's Lao or American.

jF - Ages 8-12
Lee, Marie,
If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun.
Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
Korean American teen reluctantly faces her ancestry when an immigrant joins her school.

jF - Ages 8-12
Mochizuki, Ken,
Baseball Saved Us.
Illus. by Dom Lee. Lee & Low, 1993.
In a World War II concentration camp, a Japanese American boy finds baseball a means of survival.

jF - Ages 9-12
Namioka, Lensey,
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear.
Illus. by Kees de Kiefte. Joy Street, 1992.
Musically untalented Yang must help his musician father, which hampers his adjustment to life in America.

jF - Ages 4-8
Paek, Min,
Aekyung's Dream.
Children's Book Press, 1978, 1988.
Korean immigrant reconciles her old and new countries through art. Bilingual English/Korean.

jF - Ages 10-12
Savin, Marcia,
The Moon Bridge.
Scholastic, 1992.
Two friends survive the Japanese American internment from opposite sides of the fence.

jF - Ages 9-12
Tan, Amy,
The Moon Lady.
Illus. by Gretchen Schields. Macmillan, 1992.
Grandma's reminiscences of the perils and pleasures of being naughty.

jF - Ages 9-11
Uchida, Yoshiko,
A Jar of Dreams.
McElderry, 1981.
Dauntless Rinko grows up in a close-knit Japanese American family in the prejudiced '30s.

jF - Ages 4-8
Yee, Paul,
Roses Sing on New Snow: A Delicious Tale.
Illus. by Harvey Chan. Macmillan, 1992.
Maylin earns recognition in her father's Chinatown restaurant.

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Non-Fiction

j304.873 Taka - Ages 12+
Takaki, Ronald,
Spacious Dreams: The First Wave of Asian Immigration.
Chelsea, 1994.
Title tells all.

j325.25 More - Ages 11-14
Morey, Janet Nomura and Dunn, Wendy,
Famous Asian Americans.
Cobblehill, 1992.
Fourteen notable Asian Americans are profiled, including Michael Chang, Haing Ngor, and I.M.Pei.

j325.251 Lehr - Ages 10+
Lehrer, Brian,
The Korean Americans.
Chelsea, 1988.
Splendors and miseries of a growing ethnic group.

j325.251 Mayb - Ages 10-13
Mayberry, Jodine,
Chinese.
Watts, 1990.
History and contributions of the Chinese in America.

j325.252 Hama - Ages 10+
Hamanaka, Sheila,
The Journey: Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal.
Orchard, 1990.
Powerful mural and text of Japanese American experience and quest for justice.

j325.259 Hoyt - Ages 8-12
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane,
Hoang Anh: A Vietnamese-American Boy.
Photos by Lawrence Migdale. Holiday, 1992.
What it's like growing up Vietnamese in America.

j325.259 MacG - Ages 10-13
McGuire, William,
Southeast Asians.
Watts, 1991.
Refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos struggle to build new lives in America.

j325.291 Wint - Ages 12-14
Winter, Frank H.
The Filipinos in America.
Lerner, 1988.
Cogent presentation of one of the largest groups of Asians in America.

j340 Hewe - Ages 9-13
Hewett, Joan,
Public Defender: Lawyer for the People.
Photos by Richard Hewett. Lodestar, 1991.
Tough Janice Fukaimakes a difference for the urban poor.

j394.2 Brow - Ages 9-11
Brown, Tricia,
Chinese New Year.
Photos by Fran Ortiz. Henry Holt, 1987.
This lively holiday as celebrated in San Francisco.

j745 Shal - Ages 8-14
Shalant, Phyllis,
Look What We've Brought You from Vietnam: Crafts, Games, Recipes, Stories and Other Cultural Activities from New Americans.
Messner, 1988.
Vietnam's culture presented with practicality and pizzazz.

j791.8 Say - Ages 8-14
Say, Allen,
El Chino.
Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
Pictorial biography (believe it or not!) of bullfighter Bill Wong.

jB Uchi - Ages 11+
Uchida, Yoshiko,
The Invisible Thread.
Messner, 1991.
The author's moving story of coming to terms with her Japanese heritage.

jB Yama - Ages 7+
Savage, Jeff,
Kristi Yamaguchi: Pure Gold.
Dillon, 1993.
Japanese American figure skater wins at Olympics with dignity and grace.

jB Yep - Ages 11-13
Yep, Laurence,
The Lost Garden.
Messner, 1991.
Life story of beloved Chinese American children's author.

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This booklist was funded by a Koshland Grant of the San Francisco Foundation and by The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. December 1994.