As an advocate for diversity and representation in children's literature, I created @AsianStoriesLibrary on Instagram to amplify the voices of Asian authors and illustrators. Within this community, many of my favorite creators are small businesses and independent authors. Growing up as the daughter of small business owners, I have a special appreciation and admiration for those who take on the challenge of entrepreneurship. That's why I have made it my mission to populate my daughter's home library with books from Kickstarter campaigns and mom-authors. And now, I am excited to share my top picks with you!
According to data compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 2019, just 8.7% of children’s books featured Asians as primary characters. Furthermore, the Lee and Low Diversity Baseline Survey in 2019 found that only 7% of the publishing industry overall in North America is composed of people of Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander/South Asian/South East Indian descent.
However, independent authors of Asian descent and Asian-owned small businesses are working to increase both those numbers. Many of the authors and businesses on this list are moms who created books that reflected their families because they couldn't find them elsewhere.
My list includes 52 Asian authors and Asian-owned small businesses that have collectively published over 180 children's books. What's more, 75% of those on this list published their first book within the past three years (2020 or later), showcasing the growing momentum of diverse voices in children's literature.
If you want to support bringing more books like the ones below to life, I highly recommend creating a Kickstarter account. A large proportion of the books on this list were published through Kickstarter campaigns! The first two Kickstarter campaigns I ever backed were for Habbi Habbi's bilingual books and reading wand and Little Sen's Chinese Holidays bilingual book from Shiny Lantern, both in 2019 (and both on this list). Since then, through Instagram and Kickstarter, I've discovered an amazing book community and the awesome businesses and authors listed below.
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Ariel Chang
Ariel Chang noticed a lack of Asian representation in the children's books at her daughter's school. To address that deficit, she published her first children's book, "Night Market", through a Kickstarter campaign.
Instagram: @arielchang888
Website: https://www.arielchangwrites.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
Night Market (2021)
Baby Snack Time / Judy Li
Judy Li is a writer and designer. She's has written two children's books (so far) to help fill the market gap for English-Chinese bilingual books. Her books celebrate Asian culture, featuring nostalgic snacks and tea.
Instagram: @babysnacktimebook
Website: https://babysnacktime.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional with Zhuyin and Simplified with Pinyin), Japanese
Books published: 2
Bao Bao Learns Chinese / Peipei Zhou
Peipei Zhou is the creator and voice behind Bao Bao Learns Chinese, a series of bilingual music board books. The inspiration behind the books is her son, who she is teaching Mandarin. So far, she has released three volumes of nursery rhymes and children's songs.
Instagram: @baobaolearnschinese
Website: https://www.baobaolearnschinese.com/
Type of book: Board, sound, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 3
Bao Box / Si-Chi Hefel
Si-Chi Hefel is the daughter of educators and mother of a biracial daughter. She launched Bao Box with the idea of helping her daughter appreciate her cultural heritage through an immersive environment. The first box contains an activity/story book, and an abacus and stamps with assembly instructions. The vision is to eventually turn Bao Box into a subscription service so children can learn Chinese language and culture one box at a time!
Instagram: @realbaobox
Website: https://www.realbaobox.com/
Shop on Amazon (book only)
Type of book: Activity book, cultural box (Chinese language and culture activities)
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional with Pinyin)
Books published: 1
Perfect Ten Box (activity book, abacus, and stamps)
Purchase Here (full box)
Beach Day Press / Amy
Amy is the mama and pediatric speech language pathologist behind Beach Day Press. She is working on a set of three bilingual (English, Chinese, Pinyin) board books that will help build language and play skills. The books are expected to be available for purchase in Spring 2023.
Instagram: @beach.day.press
Website: Coming in 2023!
Type of book: Bilingual, board
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Pinyin)
Books published: 3 coming in Spring 2023!
Bilingual Kiddos / Yvonne Tee
Yvonne Tee is a multilingual mother who was having trouble finding simple Chinese books (with Pinyin) to read with her kids. Through a successful Kickstarter campaign, she created her first bilingual book in 2020. A second Kickstarter campaign funded another book in 2021.
Instagram: @bilingual.kiddos
Website: https://www.bilingualkiddos.com.au/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 2
Bitty Bao / Lulu Cheng and Lacey Bernard
Lulu Cheng and Lacey Bernard became friends through their job as teachers. Years later, after they'd both gotten married and had kids, they decided to create a bilingual board book series to share Chinese language and culture with their bitty babes. Bitty Bao books often have several layers of educational material. For example, "Dragon Boat Festival" teaches Chinese language, provides cultural information about the Dragon Boat Festival, and teaches shapes! In addition to books, Bitty Bao offers high-quality toys that are related to their books, such as a hot pot set, mooncake set, and a Lunar New Year meal set .
Instagram: @bitty.bao
Website: https://www.bittybao.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional with Zhuyin and Simplified with Pinyin), some books available in Cantonese
Books published: 15
Round 1 (2020): Counting with Dum Sim, The Colors of Snow Ice, Everyday Heroes  | Round 2 (2021): Celebrating Chinese New Year, Lucky Lunar Animals, Dragon Boat Festival  | |
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Boba Bear Bilingual / Ran Wei
Ran Wei came up with the idea for the Boba Bear series to share her Chinese culture and language with her soon to be born daughter (and all children). Developing a book series while pregnant and then while taking care of a newborn is no easy feat! The Boba Bear series launched in October, 2022 with three books about a boba and book loving bilingual bear cub and her family!
Instagram: @bobabearbilingual
Website: https://bobabearbilingual.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 3
Bowie's Adventure Books / Lisa Chan
Lisa Chan wanted to introduce Chinese to her daughter, but couldn't find a lot of bilingual music books to meet that need. So, in the Fall of 2021, she created her own through a Kickstarter campaign. A second book and eventually, an entire series are currently being planned.
Instagram: @bowiesadventurebooks
Website: https://www.bowiesadventures.com/
Type of book: Board, music, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 1
Bowie's School Trip Chinese Sing-Along (2022)
The Bund Books / Carol Yu
When Carol Yu became a mom she wanted to read Chinese books to her son. However, her Chinese was a bit rusty and most Chinese books don't provide Pinyin. The Bund Books was created to provide Chinese storybooks that are accessible to non-native speakers by providing Pinyin and English translations alongside Chinese characters. The first series is called 小花园 (Little Garden) and currently has two books.
Instagram: @thebundbooks
Website: https://www.thebundbooks.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 2
Cadamini Books / Katie Cadamatre
Cadamini Books was created to provide Korean books to families outside of Korea who may have varying levels of Korean proficiency (or none at all). The first book was funded through Kickstarter in 2021, and two additional books have been published since. All the books are written in Hangeul (Korean characters), Romanization (Roman/Latin characters), and English.
Instagram: @cadaminibooks & @tigerboomcreative
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Korean (Hangeul with Romanization)
Books published: 3
Let's Clean Up, Fun Numbers, Fun Opposites (2021)
Cathy Lu
Cathy Lu is a software developer and self-taught artist. She self-published her first book as a celebration of Chinese American culture through foods.
Instagram: @abcsforabcs
Website: https://ko-fi.com/gotcathy
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
ABCs for the American Born Chinese (2020)
Cindy Tong
Cindy Tong is the mother of two boys, who she features in her mystery book series. She recognized that Asians are underrepresented in children's books, and the books they are featured in are often limited to Asian culture and holidays. Cindy Tong's books show Asian kids being adventurous and "the heroes in everyday stories".
Instagram: @bycindytong
Website: https://www.bycindytong.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 2
Congee Club Kids / Marissa Merrill and Sara Menges
The Congee Club Kids team is Marissa, a mental health counselor and mother, and Sara, an artist, grant writer, and mental health enthusiast. Congee Club Kids is launching their first book, “How Are You Feeling Little Dumpling?” on Kickstarter on December 1, 2022! The book combines emotional awareness and celebration of Asian American culture.
Instagram: @congeeclubkids
Website: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/congeeclubkids/how-are-you-feeling-little-dumpling-book-launch
Type of book: Board
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1 - Kickstarter goes live December 1, 2022!
Crystal Z. Lee
Crystal Z. Lee is a writer, mom, and former public relations executive. She's lived in both Asia (including Taipei and Shanghai) and the US. She's written a novel and two children's books. Her children's books combine Chinese and Taiwanese culture with adventurous and magical stories.
Instagram: @crystal.z.lee
Website: https://www.crystalzleeauthor.com/
Type of book: Picture, adult
Languages offered: English
Books published: 3
Culture Tater Tots / Gwen Sung
Culture Tater Tots was born out of Gwen Sung's desire to pass her Taiwanese-Chinese culture on to her daughter. Culture Tater Tots creates boxes that include themed books, activities, crafts, and Culture Guide Cards. Below I've listed Gwen Sung's book, but the cultural boxes are available on a limited quantity basis and change over time, so please check the Culture Tater Tots website for the latest information.
Instagram: @culturetatertots
Website: https://www.culturetatertots.com/
Type of book: Board, cultural boxes (books, toys, activities)
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
A Monster Named Nian (2020)
Curious Little Bao / Helen Wu
Helen Wu had trouble finding bilingual books that taught social skills, manners, everyday experiences, so she created the Curious Little Bao series to fill this gap. She also noticed that most bilingual books featured either a girl or animal as the main character. As a boy-mom, she also wanted to create a book that her son could identify with. Her mission is to crate books that "Asian toddlers identify with, translations with romanization that enable all parents to read to their children in Chinese, and messages that provide simple, repeatable phrases, which enable children to commit them to memory."
Instagram: @curious.little.bao
Website: https://curiouslittlebao.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional with Pinyin)
Books published: 1
Curious Little Bao Likes to Help (2022)
Doubly Happy / Anna Wong
Anna Wong is a graphic designer who creates custom cards, bookmarks, invitations, logos and more. She created "Doubly Happy: ABCs for ABCs" for her 12 nieces and nephews to "celebrate and nurture pride in Chinese culture".
Instagram: @doublyhappy
Website: https://www.annawongdesign.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
Doubly Happy: ABCs for ABCs (2022)
Duck Duck Books / Serena Y. Li
Serena Y. Li struggled to find bilingual books reflecting the cross-cultural values she wanted to teach her daughter. So, she founded Duck Duck Books and now leads a team of creators of color, "creating multilingual board books representing multicultural values, with themes around emotional intelligence and early social skills." Duck Duck Books also sells sustainable ego-goods, such as an adorable and high-quality children's backpack.
Instagram: @duckduckbooks
Website: https://www.duckduckbooks.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Mandarin (Simplified and Traditional with Pinyin), Cantonese (with Jyutping), Spanish
Books published: 3
Edna Ma
Edna Ma is a anesthesiologist and mom who isn't a native speaker of Chinese, but wanted to read Chinese books to her kids. Inspired by her son's friendship with another child from his Mandarin immersion school, she wrote a bilingual book series featuring the boys. The books include English and Pinyin alongside Chinese characters to be accessible to readers with various Chinese skill levels.
Instagram: @ednamamd
Website: https://www.ednama.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 3
Travel, Learn, and See Series: Your Friends (2017), Shanghai (2018), Great Wall (2021)
Eeyagi Books / Frances "F.B." Smit
Frances Smit is a teacher who found herself in Korean language class as an adult (read more about this on her website). She discovered learning Korean was much easier and more interesting when done through stories and folktales. She has adapted two folktales into bilingual books so far with the goal of "connecting language, connecting culture, one story at a time."
Facebook: @frances.smit.969
Website: https://www.eeyagitales.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Korean, Chinese (characters only)
Books published: 2
E is for Egg Tart / Jessica Lam and Nevy Liang
Jessica Lam and Nevy Liang created the "E is for Egg Tart" book through a successful Kickstarter campaign. The goal of the book is to provide a more culturally inclusive vocabulary than the typical ABC book and to celebrate Asian heritage.
Instagram: @eisforeggtart
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
E is for Egg Tart (2021)
Eugenia Chu
Eugenia Chu is an attorney, author, and mom. She had trouble finding children's story books (compared to vocabulary-type books) that included Chinese language and culture. Her first series of three books (so far) is inspired by her son, Brandon and his adventures. She also has a great educational book about Chinese New Year.
Instagram: @eugeniachuauthor
Website: http://eugeniachu.com/
Type of book: Picture, chapter
Languages offered: English
Books published: 4
Gemma's Library / Chau Nguyen Biu
Once Chau Nguyen Biu became a mom, she realized there weren't many bilingual Vietnamese books available in the US. She decided to create her own for her daughter and her cousins. Now, she has four books available to help other families grow their bilingual libraries!
Instagram: @gemmas.library
Website: https://www.gemmaslibrary.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Vietnamese
Books published: 4
The Vietnamese Alphabet, The Colors of the Rainbow, Gemma's Farm Adventure (2021)  |
Gloo Books / Karen Chan
Karen Chan is a mom, entrepreneur, and attorney who wanted to diversify her son's bookshelf. She realized there weren't a lot of diverse books available, so she crated her own. But she didn't stop there. Understanding that the lack of diversity in children's books is an industry issue, she decided to create her own publishing company. Karen Chan founded Gloo Books with the mission of creating "books for a more inclusive, just and compassionate future".
Instagram: @gloobooks
Website: https://gloobooks.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 2
Gordon and Lili / Michele Wong McSween
Michele Wong McSween created the Gordon and Lili series to introduce her children to Chinese language and culture. At the time, there were very few books like this (over 90% of the books on this list hadn't been created yet!), so I believe Michele Wong McSween is one of the first independent creators of bilingual Chinese children's books in the US! She has since published six books and developed a Chinese language learning mobile app .
Instagram: @gordonandlili
Website: https://gordonandlili.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual, coloring and activity
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin and phonetic pronunciation)
Books published: 6
Habbi Habbi / Hanna and Anne-Louise
Hanna and Anne-Louise are two moms on bilingual journeys with their kids. They wanted to create a language-learning resource that was inexpensive, easy-to-use, non-screen-based, and accessible for non-native speakers. The result was Habbi Habbi, a company providing bilingual board books (English-Chinese and English-Spanish), accompanied by a reading wand to allow children to "read" the books themselves and hear native pronunciation. In 2019, Habbi Habbi launched a Kickstarter that was fully funded within four hours, raising over $58,000 from almost 500 backers by the end of the campaign. Now, Habbi Habbi has 24 books available in five languages (Chinese, Spanish, French, Korean, and Hindi). Besides books and reading wands Habbi Habbi also offers tappable flashcards and puzzles.
Instagram: @behabbi
Website: https://www.habbihabbi.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual, sound with tappable reading wand, flashcards, puzzles
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin), Korean, Spanish, French, Hindi
Books published: 24
Habbi Habbi (2019)
Heritage Press Co / Jennifer Hong and Sandra Lee
When Jennifer Hong became a mother, she wanted to expose her daughter to the Korean language, but found very few baby books in Korean. So, she and her best friend, Sandra Lee, a professional Korean translator started Heritage Press Co. Although they initially created the company to publish Korean-English books, they also plan to create books in other languages. A Tagalog book is coming soon!
Instagram: @heritagepressco
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Korean (Hangeul with Romanization), Tagalog (coming soon!)
Books published: 3
Immedium Books / Oliver Chin
Oliver Chin founded Immedium in 2004 to publish diverse stories. There are about two dozen authors who have published through Immedium since. Oliver Chin, himself, has published over 15 books, including the "Tales from the Chinese Zodiac" series, the "Julies Black Belt" series, and several standalone books. Together with Phil Amara, he co-authored the "Asian Hall of Fame" series and "Awesome Asian Americans", which has a part two coming November, 2022. Learn more about Immedium and Olive Chin through this interview he did with the Asian American History 101 podcast.
Instagram: @immediumbooks
Website: http://www.immedium.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified)
Books published: 25+
Jet's Books / Virginia Yang
Virginia Yang created Jet's Books to provide early language exposure to young children and to keep "Asian traditions and cultures alive with the next generation of Asian-Americans".
Instagram: @jetsbooks
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 1
Jet Celebrates the New Year (2019)
JKL Teahouse
Together, Nithin Jilla, Joanna Kong ,and Susan Hsia Lew are JKL Teahouse. "At JKL Teahouse, we are proud of our multiple Asian heritages, and we are proud to be Americans. Our mission is to inspire a broader definition of “American” by offering products that reflect Asian Americans and the impact of Asian communities on American life." Their first book, "R is for Rice", illustrated by Christine Diaz, is an ABC book of Asian American foods.
Instagram: @risforrice
Website: https://jklteahouse.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
R is for Rice (2021)
Kesia Eng
Kesia Eng has a special love for dim sum and was really sad to see dim sum restaurants closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. To capture the experience of dim sum along with its cultural elements, she created "Baby Bao at Dim Sum". Her hope is that "we can all appreciate dim sum as an avenue to love our families more, and continue to pass on the values embedded in it".
Instagram: @babybaoatdimsum
Website: https://kesiaeng.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
Baby Bao at Dim Sum (2022)
Learn Chinese with Tofu / Ling and Eric Lee
Ling and Eric Lee wanted their son to have early exposure to the Chinese language, but had a hard time finding bilingual children's books that included Pinyin. Learn Chinese with Tofu creates children's books with English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) and Pinyin.
Instagram: @learnchinesewithtofu
Website: https://learnchinesewithtofu.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional with Pinyin)
Books published: 2
Lele and Monkey / Tiffany Kwan
Though from California, Tiffany Kwan's family is currently living in Hong Kong. She wanted to teach her son Chinese, but found it difficult as a non-native speaker. Lele and Monkey was created to share their "Chinese learning journey with others but also showcase the beauty of living and growing up in HK".
Instagram: @leleandmonkey
Website: https://leleandmonkey.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional with Pinyin), Cantonese (with Jyutping)
Books published: 2
Leslie Nguyen
Leslie Nguyen is the daughter of Vietnamese refugee-immigrants. She wrote "Two Refugees and a Dream" to preserve her parents' inspirational story as a picture book.
Instagram: @leslienguyenwrites
Website: https://leslienguyenwrites.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
Two Refugees and a Dream (2021)
Life of Adaventure / Ada Jang
Ada Jang noticed her son gravitated to books with real pictures, especially ones of other children, but couldn't find many with storylines. She published "Making Dumplings with Alden" through Kickstarter to create a Montessori-friendly book with real photos and fun story.
Instagram: @lifeof.adaventure
Type of book: Board
Languages offered: English
Books published: 1
Making Dumplings with Alden (2021)
Lil Dumpling Publications / Robin Lawrence and Tien Butts
Robin Lawrence wanted to expose her baby to Chinese early, but found limited options for those who need Pinyin to read Chinese. She created Lil Dumpling Publications with her cousin, Tien Butts, and published the several books through a successful Kickstarter campaign. "Hearing & Seeing Chinese" is a high contrast book for young babies, while the other two books combine Robin's interests in Montessori, Mandarin, and cooking.
Instagram: @lildumplingpublications
Website: https://lildumplingpublications.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 3
Hearing & Seeing Chinese, I can make a fruit tart, I can make a salad (2021)
Little Bean's Toy Chest / Hai-Anh Vu
Little Bean's Toy Chest creates fabric play books (quiet books) that encourage development of fine motor skills, independence, and imagination. The books contain different activities and sensory experiences, such as buttons, zippers, velcro, flaps, pockets, and removable pieces. The books shown below are from the Celebrating Cultures set, but there are many other books, such as "My Holiday", What Will I Be?", and "Everyday Life". Some of the books offer customization, like adding a child's name or custom skin color and hair color/style for included dolls.
Instagram: @littlebeanstoychest
Website: https://www.littlebeanstoychest.com/
Type of book: Quiet, sensory
Quiet Books from the Celebrating Cultures and Places Collection
Little Phoenix Press / Danni Pi and Sammy Yuen
Danni Pi had trouble finding baby books that bilingual (English-Chinese) with Pinyin and taught the kinds of lessons she wanted her child to learn. She approached Sammy Yuen to collaborate and together they created Little Phoenix Press! I did an interview with Danni and Sammy that you can read here to learn more about them, Little Phoenix Press, and their first book, “Where’s Tuotuo?”.
Instagram: @littlephoenixpress
Website: https://www.littlephoenixpress.us/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 1
Where's Tuotuo? (2022)
Little Picnic Press / Cheryl Yau Chepusova
Cheryl Yau Chepusova was disappointed in the lack of Asian representation in children's books. Where the was representation, it was often an overgeneralization of Asian culture. She wanted to create books that would celebrate the diverse cultures within Asia. In 2018, she founded Little Picnic Press as "an independent publisher dedicated to creating thoughtfully written and well designed books that promote cultural diversity, food, and travel".
Instagram: @littlepicnicpress & @bigcitieslittlefoodies
Website: https://www.littlepicnicpress.com/
Type of book: Board, picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional)
Books published: 5
Lulu Books / Jenny Lu
Jenny Lu's childhood dream was to be a children's book author. As a Kindergarten teacher, an Early Language and Literacy Coordinator, and a reading specialist, she wanted to foster an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in young readers, especially girls. In addition, she wanted to create books with characters from diverse backgrounds to teach equity and inclusion to children. The Emma Ren series combines all of this into fun, educational reads for children.
Instagram: @jenny.lulubooks
Website: https://www.lulubooksandmore.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 2
Lychee Press / Katrina Liu
Katrina Liu writes Chinese-English bilingual storybooks for non-native Chinese speaking families who want to give their children early exposure to Chinese. Her mission is to increase Asian representation in children's books and inspire children to be proud of their cultural and heritage. Learn more about Katrina Liu in this interview with Chalk Academy (a great site for multilingual resources in Chinese and Korean). If you've been inspired by the authors on this list and want to self-publish your own children's book, check out Katrina's book coaching services.
Instagram: @minalearnschinese
Website: https://lycheepress.com
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional with Pinyin), some books available in Cantonese
Books published: 16
Mandarin Prodigies / Kristin Yu
Kristin Yu created Mandarin Prodigies to offer Chinese learning materials inspired by the Montessori method. In addition to three self-published board books, Mandarin Prodigies offers books from other authors, flash cards, a sand writing tray, wooden or sandpaper Chinese strokes trace cards, and more.
Instagram: @mandarinprodigies
Website: https://www.mandarinprodigies.com/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 3
Mini Love Tales / Conny Wong
Conny Wong started Mini Love Tales to create soothing, rhyming books with themes from Asian culture as bedtime stories for her children. She has now self-published three books and hopes that Mini Love Tales, as an Asian-owned company, can "help fill the gap in the publishing industry, where Asian stories are under-represented".
Instagram: @minilovetales
Website: https://minilovetales.com/
Type of book: Board, picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 3
I Love You, Little Dumpling (2020) and I Love You, Little Boba (2021)  |
My Peach Tot / Crystal Huang
Crystal Huang found it difficult to teach her children Chinese in the US. She wanted to create "an immersive Chinese language and culture environment" that didn't involve screen time. My Peach Tot was founded to help children learn Chinese independently in a fun way. The first book, "Imagine World" is an interactive, tappable, sound and music book that allows children to explore the Chinese language even before they can read.
Instagram: @mypeachtot
Website: https://www.mypeachtot.com/
Type of book: Interactive, sound, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 1
Imagine World (2022)
Our Little Mando / Maryann Chu
Maryann Chu created Our Little Mando "to shine a light on our cultural heritage so that children can see themselves better reflected in the books that they read and in the world around them". Her mission is to provide Chinese learning books that are accessible to families of varying levels of fluency and showcase Taiwanese-Chinese culture. Her first book, "One Little Pig" was published after a successful Kickstarter campaign, and her second book "A Little Book of Taiwanese Eats" just (as of this writing) opened for pre-order! Both books have accompanying plushies available for purchase.
Instagram: @ourlittlemando
Website: https://www.ourlittlemando.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 2
Shiny Lantern / Yujia Zhao
Yujia Zhao founded Shiny Lantern to provide her son with a fun way to learn about Chinese culture and language. Shiny Lantern's books are "written in Chinese and English, and include stories that introduce Chinese cultural topics in a way that is relatable, educational, and fun." Her first book was one of the first Kickstarter campaigns I ever backed and one of the first bilingual books in our home.
Instagram: @shiny_lantern
Website: https://shinylantern.com/
Type of book: Picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 2
Spark Collection / Irene Kang
Irene Kang struggled to find resources for her Chinese-Korean American multicultural family that were accessible to non-fluent speakers. She came up with the fantastic idea to incorporate flash cards as lift-the-flaps in a bilingual storybook and Spark Collection was born. "Spark Collection's mission is to inspire families to learn language and culture in a fun and meaningful way." Her first book, "My Favorite Gift", was brought to life through a successful Kickstarter campaign and she just released her second book, "My Beautiful Earth" about a week ago (as of this writing).
Instagram: @thesparkcollection
Website: https://sparkcollection.com/
Type of book: Interactive, lift-a-flap, bilingual, dry erase
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin), Hindi (with Transliteration), Korean (with Romanization)
Books published: 2
Sunbridge / Melissa Miao and Charlotte Cheng
Melissa Miao and Charlotte Cheng created Sunbridge to share Chinese language and culture with young children through bilingual Chinese-English books. Their books feature an adorable red panda, Bobo, and offer several layers of learning, such as counting with food and colors with Chinese New Year.
Instagram: @sunbridge
Website: https://www.sunbridge.co/
Type of book: Board, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Chinese (Simplified with Pinyin)
Books published: 2
Tangerine and Jade Press / Tracy Guan
Tracy Guan is the founder of Tangerine and Jade Press and has launched two books through successful Kickstarter campaigns. "Tangerine and Jade Press aims to amplify diverse voices, bringing stories from different cultures, backgrounds, experiences, identities, and generations to print."
Instagram: @tangerineandjadepress
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 2
Tiny Wrist / Tam Le
Tam Le couldn't find Vietnamese children's books to pass on Vietnamese language to her kids, so she founded Tiny Wrist with the vision to create "books that are both visually appealing and culturally interesting". Her first book was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2020. Since then, she has published several more books, created a YouTube channel, and started a Facebook group for Vietnamese bilingual families.
Instagram: @tinywristco
Website: https://tinywrist.com/
Type of book: Board, picture, bilingual
Languages offered: English, Vietnamese
Books published: 4
Yobe Qiu
Yobe Qiu is an educator, entrepreneur, mom, and author who specializes in multicultural books. Her Asian Holidays series (Our Lunar New Year, Our Moon Festival, and Our Double Fifth Celebration) showcases how each holiday is celebrated in different Asian cultures. Her Asian Adventures series takes children on a journey around Asia through places and foods. Her mission is to "publish books that help children like her daughter feel seen, heard, and represented."
Instagram: @byyobeqiu
Website: https://www.byyobeqiu.com/
Type of book: Picture
Languages offered: English
Books published: 6
Do you know a fantastic book that would make a great addition to this list? I'd love to hear your recommendations! Please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts. Thank you for helping make this list even better!
Disclaimers:
In the case where I have taken a picture of the book, I've used my own photos. Otherwise, I've used photos from the book's Amazon listing or the author's website. All quotations are from the authors' websites, Kickstarter campaigns, or Amazon author pages.
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