May 2008
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Many years ago there were few books that accurately portrayed Asian Americans in books. Books like The Five Chinese Brothers are out-of-date, and makes it hard for any Asian Pacific American to relate to the culture that the book portrays. Now there are many authors such as Lawrence Yep, Grace Lin, Allen Say, Linda Sue Park, and more newcomers such as Cherry Cheva, Gene Luen Yang, and An Na. Books portraying Asian Pacific American Heritage are changing, and it’s exciting to see the new books that are now available. In addition to the books listed below, Fusion Stories is a great place to find more books that celebrate the Asian Pacific American Heritage.
Legend of the Chinese Dragon
Written by Maria Sellier
Illustrated by Catherine Louis
Calligraphy and chop marks by Wang Fei
Translated by Sibylle Kazeroid
Legend of the Chinese Dragon is a beautiful book that is reminiscent of a Native American creation story. In many Asian countries the dragon is an all-powerful and benevolent creature. In China, and Korea, it is believed that emperors were descendants of dragons. In the Legend of the Chinese Dragon the story is of how the dragon was created from elements of animals that were worshiped or revered in the different regions of China.
The story is told in both English and Mandarin Chinese. It is a lovely story and the illustration is reminiscent of Chinese paper cutting. The chops are wonderful and would be a great activity for students to make connections between the Chinese character and the animal. For example, the chop for bird looks like the wing of a bird.