Dim Sum for Everyone! [Paperback]

Grace Lin (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: January 14, 2003 | Age Range: 3 - 7 years

In English, dim sum means “little hearts,” or “touches the heart,” but to this young girl, dim sum means delicious. On a visit to a bustling dim sum restaurant, a family picks their favorite little dishes from the steaming trolleys filled with dumplings, cakes, buns, and tarts. And as is traditional and fun, they share their food with each other so that everyone gets a bite of everything.
Just right for young children, Dim Sum for Everyone! celebrates a cultural custom and a universal favorite activity–eating!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After waxing poetic about the advantages of a vegetable garden in The Ugly Vegetables, author/artist Grace Lin describes the pleasures of a Chinese dining tradition in Dim Sum for Everyone. From sweet pork buns to little egg tarts, the plentiful dishes arrive on metal carts for a grand smorgasbord. An endnote offers a brief history of dim sum; endpapers show the wide spectrum available for sampling.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This tasty tradition is explored through simple text and realistic illustrations. A family with three daughters arrives at a restaurant for a meal of "little dishes." Carts are wheeled to each table and the guests select what they would like to eat. They each choose a favorite dish and then share with everyone at the table. When the plates and bowls are empty, the family looks satisfied and a little sleepy. The concluding note explains the cultural history of dim sum as well as the customs surrounding the meal. The endpapers feature an array of delicious ingredients, utensils, and items that are typical of this repast, all labeled in Chinese and English. The illustrations capture every detail from the texture and patterns of the clothing and food to the small jade necklace worn by the waitress. This enticing book can stand alone or supplement a lesson on food or Chinese culture.
Genevieve Ceraldi, New York Public Library
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 - 7 years
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dragonfly Books; Reprint edition (January 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440417708
• ISBN-13: 978-0440417705
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 0.1 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Multicultural Stories > Asian & Asian American

More About the Author

Hello! Thanks so much for your interest in me and my books!

I grew up in Upstate NY with my parents and 2 sisters, whom are featured in many of my books, including "Dim Sum For Everyone!" and my novels, "The Year of the Dog" and "The Year of the Rat." My mother and I were the star characters in my first book, "The Ugly Vegetables"--I cut both my sisters out of that story! They were quite upset with me and made me promise never to cut them out again. And since then, I haven't...yet.

While many of my books highlight my family, not all of them do. My Newbery Honor-winning novel "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon," is an Asian inspired fantasy that some people call a Chinese 'Wizard of Oz,' and my early reader "Ling & Ting" is inspired by the old 'Flicka, Dicka & Ricka' books I read when I was young.

I hope you enjoy my books. Please visit my website: www.gracelin.com for more info about them (behind the scene stories and pictures) as well as other amusing anecdotes!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "two shoes" March 1, 2003

By Lee

Format:Hardcover

My 2 yr old son absolutely loves this book! He can recite every single page!
I grew up speaking Cantonese and I didn't know how to pronounce all the dim sum dishes, but Ms. Lin has helped by listing the most popular dim sum dishes with the English translation and Cantonese pronunciations at the end of the book.
This book also contains very colorful illustrations and a little descriptive history on dim sum.
As for "two shoes", that is what seems to come out of my son's mouth whenever he tries to say "dishes". :)

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dim Sum! October 24, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Each person in the family picks out something different as the cart with the little dishes comes around in the dim sum restaurant. With a sing-song rhythm, Lin describes the familiar ritual of a family having dim sum together, describing as she does so a bit of Chinese culture. "Little dishes on carts. Little dishes on tables...Everyone eats a little bit of everything." Her illustrations show a table full of brightly colored plates topped with small portions of various foods: fried shrimp, turnip cakes, sweet tofu, and little egg tarts. Ma-Ma, Ba-Ba, and the three daughters wear clothes with intricate patterns, set against a backdrop of swirls. The effect is a rich mesh of textures and a collage of little plates! Lin ends the book simply as she began it with the statement, "Now there are empty little dishes." She includes the history of the dim sum tradition at the end of the book, as well as small pictures of each dim sum dish, labeled in English and Chinese.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Intro To Dim Sum July 26, 2005

By C. Finn

Format:Hardcover

My three year old daughter loves this book. She enjoys picking out her favorite pieces of dim sum in the book and then pointing out my favorites. The illustrations are beautiful. My daughter likes to bring the book with her when we go out for dim sum and then she matches up the food items at the restaurant with the pictures in the book. It is a good book to introduce dim sum to a child.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for your trip back to China for your Mei-Mei December 27, 2004

By KSL

Format:Hardcover

This book would be a terrific book to read before, during the long plane ride to China and while there for your child who is traveling with you to meet her new Mei Mei! Also can be brought along when you visit a actual Dim Sum restaurant both there in China and back home in your local Chinese restaurnant!

Grace Lin drawings are simple, but beautifully done. She uses the Chinese names of each family member and also includes a brief 2 page history on Dim Sum as well as both their Chinese names and English. When we where in China for our daughter we visited a Dim Sum restaurant which was excellent! We tried the radish cakes and our favorite was the egg tarts! We did use our 2 fingers to tap to say thank you when our cups where refilled again. Our guide told us that saying thank you this way came about when the Emperor playing a game with a lady friend and if she got up to bow to say thank you for tea interupted the game they where each time, so the Emperor made up this way of saying thanks and not interupting his game.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC! February 2, 2006

By Jana Chinn

Format:Paperback

This is a fantastic book to teach young children about the Chinese brunch called dim sum. It has excellent illustrations and even has the correct names for some of the most popular dim sum dishes. My husband who is Chinese loves to buy this book for our god children and read it to them before we have dim sum! I completly recomend this book for anyone but especially those who are interested in the Chinese culture.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Yum! April 15, 2002

By AL

Format:Hardcover

This book is the perfect introduction to dim sum. If you haven't tried it yet, take this book to a dim sum restaurant and use it to help pick your dishes--if you point to the picture of the dish on the endpapers, the waiters are sure to know what you want! Kids will love it, too. If you extra-daring, try the chicken feet! My favorite dish is the turnip or radish cake.

I love Grace Lin's work--I have all of her books!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderfully illustrated February 7, 2004

By Carol C. VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The beauty of this book is in the brightly colored llustrations. Every page sports a bright red background with equally bright pictures. The story is about a family of five that goes out for a dim sum meal -- each person chooses what he or she likes. The pictures depict a real-looking family eating in real family fashion -- one child reaching in front of one another to grab an egg tart, one child sticking chopsticks in her mouth like walrus tusks. After the meal, the children all look sleepy and contented as Dad reaches for the bill.

The text of the book isn't particularly catchy; it is very simple and it refers to the dim sum without using any Chinese words.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Multicultural Learning January 9, 2007

By Staci Long

Format:Paperback

I bought this book for a classroom lesson on Multiculturalism, I included a puppet with the book and the students loved it. This is a great book, and a must have for all teachers and classrooms.