Book Review: Squid for Brains Picture Books
Squid for Brains picture books have fun, readable and accessible content for beginners learning Chinese as a second language. They are designed based on the theory of comprehensible input. combined with a dose of good humour.
Le Le Flash Cards for learning-to-read in Chinese
Le Le flash cards are designed to reinforce learning from the Le Le Reading System.
Little Sheep Goes up the Mountain 小羊上山 Review – Chinese Levelled Reader
Exciting new series of graded readers released in 2020 & 2021, by the same authors as Disney I Will Read, but SO much better! This book set is an excellent choice for any child who is starting learning to read, and it won’t break the budget either.
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…
1000+ Chinese Picture Books compatible with Luka Reading Robot
Our 1000 favourite Chinese picture books to read with Luka Reading Robot or Luka Hero, split by age groups, along with tips on how to find great Chinese picture books for Luka.
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…
Comparison of character lists in Chinese graded readers
This posts compares the character lists between three famous Chinese levelled reader series, being Sage 500 Books, Odonata Readers and Le Le Chinese. Posts compares differences and overlap. It outlines outlines key differences, with a focus on the first 500 characters used within each set.
Books to enjoy about Dragon Boat Festival
How can your family enjoy Dragon Boat Festival in Singapore this year, from the comfort of your home? Here’s a list of great reads and some activities to inspire.
Odonata Chinese Levelled Reading Series: Review
A review of Odonata Graded readers, which area well written series for learning 1200 Chinese characters. The books have a clear layout, large font, and no HYPY, and importantly, will not break the bank (unlike some other famous levelled readers, which are quite an investment). Click above to read more.
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 mums…
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.
Book Review: 16 Chinese Picture Books Celebrating Families Ties and Grandparents
16 Chinese picture books on the topic of families and celebrations. The picture books selected in this post teach children about family values and bonds, especially with grandparents.
The secret to find great Chinese picture books in the Singapore library with Luka
List of excellent authors of Chinese picture books, which can be found in the Singapore NLB, and which are all Luka compatible.
Book Review: Crow Bakery 乌鸦面包店 (Set of 5)
This endearing set of 5 books (translated from Japanese) centres around the humble beginnings of a mom-and-pop bakery business, opened by two crows in the Spring Forest. It’s an intriguing story following the progression of the bakery – and various other enterprises around the forest – and how the family go about their daily life,…
Christmas Picture Books (and literary gifts) in Chinese for preschoolers
This post shares six Christmas-themed books to read in Chinese, and a five great bilingual literary toys too. What is a better gift to give than the gift of language? The gift of Christmas surely. But language is a pretty good gift too. Enjoy good literature with your child this Christmas!
Graded Reader Review: Disney I Will Read by Myself series 迪士尼我会自己读第
The Disney “I Will Read By Myself” Learning series 迪士尼我会自己读第 are excellent levelled readers and certainly tick all the boxes of what to look out for in a good Chinese reading set. They engage children using stories and Disney characters which they will be familiar with, and are written in Simplified Chinese, with no pinyin…
Little Brother Mouse Series: Chinese Book Review 可爱的鼠小弟
Name: Little Brother Mouse Series Sets 1 and 2 可爱的鼠小弟Author: Yoshio NakaeNumber of books in set: 22~ Number of pages: around 30 (varies between titles, but only half the pages have text)~ Number of lines per page: 0 – 4~ Total length of the book: ~300 characters per story~ Characters required by child to read…
Chinese bridging books for children: What to read after your child knows 1000 characters
This post summarises Simplified Chinese bridging books, arranged by length and character complexity. These are the ideal early chapter books to move onto AFTER your child has finished up graded reader sets like Sage, Le Le, Odonata or 四五快读. Get reading to read, read read!
Bilingual Chinese Books that teach Kindness and Peace to Inspire Children
8 bilingual Chinese-English books on the topic of kindness, peace and unity. The picture books selected in this post teach children about kindness through a variety of approaches – such as stories, poems, use of metaphors, or profiling peacemakers.
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
The Chinese Books We Love
We just love to read! I believe in literacy through literature. As a non-Chinese reader myself, it’s been a well-researched journey to find age-appropriate books which can teach my children to read simplified Chinese characters, and provide literary fun for the whole family.
Most of the books recommended come with a good audio option (reading pen, Luka, etc) so that the child can read independently without a Chinese speaking adult in the house. All of these books we’ve purchased in Singapore.
Subscribe to My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.