Customer Reviews

Mei-Mei Loves the Morning

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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This beautifully written and illustrated book describes a typical Chinese child's morning. Mei-Mei eats a breakfast of rice porridge with grandfather while mommy and daddy sleep. Then she helps her grandfather care for his songbird, rides with him on his bike to the park where they practice Tai Chi with their friends and drink tea, and rides home again, visiting one of the local street vendors to buy pancakes. It's a lovely story with beautiful illustrations and has quickly become one of our 4-year old daughter's favorite books. We also love it because it teaches her about life in another country in such a nice way.

Excellent! A great multicultural family story. This book shows life in modern China through a little girl's eyes. The book shows the loving relationship between kindergarten-aged Mei-Mei and her grandfather. In it, we see that loving family relationships truly transcend cultural boundaries. Mei-Mei and her grandfather share many activities that American children may share with their grandparents: eating meals together, going to the park, caring for pets. But their breakfast is rice, not cereal; their pet is a beautiful songbird, not a dog or cat. In their everyday activities, we see their love for each other. A great multicultural family story!

A book I quickly needed for school. It arrived swiftly and it was in great condition.

So often "multicultural" books are well-meaning but less than compelling stories. They're read a couple of times but never really requested favorites. This is very different, a seemingly simple but very detailed, nuanced and utterly satisfying tale that grows richer with each new reading.
It engages us right from the start and pulls us into Mei-Mei's morning routine with her grandfather, a very loving, uplifting, spiritual and beautiful part of their day with several wonderful small surprises. A beautiful picture into another way of life. Last but not least, the illustrations are wonderful. Sensitive, accurate down to the smallest detail, and beautifully rendered.