Char Siu Bao Boy

I think this book is a wonderful story to teach children that it is okay to embrace things about their own culture that might be perceived as "different" to others. I am a social worker and besides reading it to my daughter, I will be using this in the classrooms to help generate discussion about diversity, uniqueness, differences, and problems solving. Also, this book is recommended by the Anti-Defamation League on their bibliotherapy list - which I greatly rely on to choose books that teach children important values and lessons. Also, being Chinese I appreciate that their is finally a recommended children's book that I can relate to and share with my own daughter. I highly recommend it - Happy REading!

This book is a favorite in my house and now I have my own "Char Siu Bao Boy"-- my youngest son. We love Sandra Yamate's story about Henry's love of the little steamed pork buns and his attempt to try foods the other kids like. It teaches a wonderful lesson about trying other foods. I read this to my son's kindergarten class and brought some char siu bao for the children to try. Now we have a few more fans of this tasty dim sum treat in Northern Virginia.

I was so glad to see this book back in print. I love it. It has the best message (about sharing one's culture). My kids had the first edition when they were little and it was their favorite story. My son took it to school and his teacher still asks to borrow it to read to her class every year.

Carolina Yao illustrates this story of a boy who loves Chinese barbecued pork buns, bringing it everyday to lunch despite his friends' criticisms. Charlie faces peer pressure to bring the same lunch as everyone else; can he conform and give up something he loves?