Review: Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic by Ginnie Lo

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Jinyi and her sister love visiting Auntie and Uncle Yang's home, where they enjoy dumpling-eating contests and backyard adventures with their cousins. One weekend, on a Sunday drive among the cornfields near Chicago, Auntie Yang spots something she has never before seen in Illinois. Could it be one of their favorite Chinese foods-soybeans?!
            Excited by their discovery, the families have their very first soybean picnic. Every year after that, Auntie Yang invites more people to share the food and fun. Pretty soon more than two hundred friends and neighbors are gathering at the picnic to play games and eat soybeans together.
            Unique illustrations painted on ceramic plates lend a quirky charm to this lighthearted intergenerational story. Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic is a delicious celebration of family traditions, culture, and community that will have readers asking for seconds, thirds, and more.

MY TAKE:

I like children's books that focus on family so I had high hopes for this book.

In Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic, the author recounts her childhood and how her auntie started a soybean picnic tradition.

This book was very interesting for me. I'm not Chinese, but my family does have a lot of gatherings and I'm very close to my cousins. The book was able to show the family dynamics well. The book was also well-written in that it was able to describe very well the events without going overboard. The book is kind of long, though, so this is more for older kids or for when you need to read your kid something that's a little bit longer than the average children's books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lee & Low Books for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. The story is fascinating in its own way.
2. The descriptions can make you really hungry.
3. It has nice lessons about family.

THE BAD:

1. The illustration style may not be everyone's cup of tea.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

There were steaming platters of Chinese meatballs with cabbage and bean threads, and spicy tofu with ground pork and salted black beans.

READ IT IF:

1. You are looking for a lengthy children's book.
2. Your child likes eating.
3. You like stories about families.

RATING: 



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