Review of six great sets of Simplified Chinese graphic novels for children which contain touching stories and Asian-themed graphics. Great for language learners of multiple abilities, with lots of cultural relevance too.
Category Archives: Primary school-age readers
Chinese Home Library: Best Books of 2020 & 2021
Our family’s favourite Chinese book recommendations for each age group from toddler to tween. 3 to 9. As selected by my kids.
Building a Chinese book library at home for children
This post outlines how you can go about creating your own children’s Chinese book collection at home, and what to think about as you do it. It includes the types of books we have by age, genre and author, and also where they came from. Lots of geeky charts and graphs.
Extensive Reading: The secret to learning Chinese
Extensive Reading has been the key to our family’s Chinese learning. It’s about reading widely for pleasure, focusing on of texts where >98% of words/characters are known. This post describes how the approach works, and how stress free it can be. Don’t focus on teaching the child 500 words; focus on setting up a love of literacy for life.
Book Review: Frog and Toad Story Books 青蛙和蟾蜍
Frog and Toad is a charming set of 4-books, which tells a timeless story of friendship, having been written over 50 years ago …. it’s perfect as an early chapter book for an emerging reader, with less pictures and more text. The stories are endearing because Frog and Toad’s adventures are simple every day activities – going for a walk, reading, cooking, cleaning the house or tending a garden. If your child can read >1000 characters, do give this a good look.
Chinese eBook Apps for Children: Comparison and Review
A detailed comparison of nine Chinese e-Book platforms for Children, including Wawayaya JoyReader, Dudu, Ellabook, Epic, and others. The posts covers the range of books available, ease of use, and key considerations.
Mandarin Companion Review
Mandarin Companion books are a really different kind of graded reader / bridging book set. For Levels 1 and 2, they take classics from English literature, and cleverly translate them into books with minimal characters, that can be read by a Mandarin beginner. This concept makes it quite appealing for an older learner, who gets a bit bored by the ‘Tom and Jane’ style beginning books, and enjoy more interesting storylines.
How can a story like Jane Austin’s Emma or Sherlock Holmes, or the Secret Garden be condensed down into just 300 or less characters without losing the intrigue? Well, yes, you’ll see it’s been done very well with Mandarin Companion readers.
Where to buy excellent Chinese books for children in Singapore?
Singapore is 100% blessed with a plethora of lovely Chinese bookstores, and many of our favourite ones have passionate owners who will be able to curate the perfect books for your family too. As a mother who doesn’t read or speak Chinese, I’m really thankful for the amazing options out there, mainly run by passionate mumsContinue reading “Where to buy excellent Chinese books for children in Singapore?”
Chinese Book Review: Butt Detective Series 屁屁侦探
Butt Detective is a series of kid-friendly mystery detective books, with bright colours, fun plot, and not too much text. The 屁屁侦探 series originates from Japan, and is excellent for a preschool / early primary Chinese reader.
Chinese Bridging Book Review: “New Stars Island” Graded Picture Book Series 《新新岛》分级读本系列 (Set of 36)
This post is about a locally written set of thirty six Simplified Chinese picture books called the “New Star Island” collection, written and printed in Singapore, which are broadly designed to match every year of primary school in Singapore. They’re creatively written, prize winning works, and great for encouraging an older child to read broadly,Continue reading “Chinese Bridging Book Review: “New Stars Island” Graded Picture Book Series 《新新岛》分级读本系列 (Set of 36)”