By Maureen Tai, 12 September 2023

Who doesn’t love stories about random acts of kindness, gestures that belie the inhumanity that our species is so often capable of? And who doesn’t love these stories when they are based on reality, and accompanied by delightfully bold, rustic-coloured illustrations? Kafka and the Doll (ages 4-8 years) is such a picture book, a masterful imagining of the chance meeting between the legendary Czech writer, Franz Kafka, and a little girl. The grief-stricken girl has lost her doll and is crying in a park. Instead of turning a blind eye, Kafka tells the girl that the doll is not lost, but travelling. For the next few weeks, Kafka delivers letters to the girl, ostensibly written by her globe-trotting doll, in an effort to help ease the little girl through her loss. The letters are bright and cheerful, so even as the girl continues to feel the sorrow of loss, she can’t help but be happy for her doll.

The letters have never been found and to this day, the girl’s identity remains a mystery. Presumably, the doll was never recovered. But Kafka’s selfless act of generosity and kindness lives on, not only as an example of how we can care for one another but also as a testimony to the healing power of stories and words. A heartwarming and captivating read that might also encourage letter writing (not at all a bad thing in my opinion!).

Ages 4-8 years.

By Maureen Tai, 31 August 2023

My two opinionated teenagers began their sibling relationship with a bunk bed, cuddles and bath-time play. To my dismay, they mostly bicker and bait each other these days, so much so that I lie awake some nights wondering how it all went so wrong. So maybe it was the Universe that led me to pull out Maya Tatsukawa’s delightfully humorous picture book, The Bear in My Family (3-7 years old) from the tightly-packed shelf of the local public library on a blistering, pre-typhoon day in Hong Kong. Tatsukawa’s soothing, pastel-coloured illustrations, reminiscent of Taro Gomi’s style (check out his wonderful picture books, in particular My Friends), are deceptively simple but full of thoughtful and clever details; the smooth pages irresistibly textured. The story opens with a stony-faced little boy’s statement: “I live with a bear.” Despite being part of the boy’s family, we learn that the titular Bear has some pretty undesirable traits and habits, and that this animal causes the boy no end of misery. What is the boy to do?

To say any more about this well-crafted picture book, would be to spoil it for any reader (and I’m not one for spoilers!). The Bear in My Family is definitely one to snuggle up to read together (preferably with siblings). We – yes, my teens read it too – came away with warm, fuzzy feelings and smiles on our faces. Unless I was imagining it, there was even a sister-brother goodnight hug that very evening, finally allowing me a rare good night’s sleep.

For ages 3-7 years old.

By Maureen Tai, 12 December 2022

How do you welcome a baby brother or sister into the world? What words of wisdom can you dispense? (especially if you’re not that much older yourself, even if you look like your grandmother and your mother when they were your age, and you don’t think about it yet, but your children and grandchildren will possibly look like you when they become the age you are now). How do you tell your baby sibling about the small blue dot that is your home, your entire world, your universe? How do you explain the creations of Mother Nature (broccoli notwithstanding), the wonders of the human imagination, the marvel of being alive?

I’ll tell you how (and you don’t have to keep it a secret, in fact, you absolutely HAVE TO share this precious nugget of information): you pick up a lovely illustrated picture book called This Small Blue Dot (ages 3+) and you read it out loud – by yourself or with a grown-up – while gazing at the gorgeously pencil-drawn little girl with glasses on her black-hair-fringed face and admiring the crayon scribbles that look as if you could have drawn them (seriously!). When you’re done, you’ll feel this bubbly, happy feeling, and you’ll want to explore, and love, the world around you and everything in it! After all, that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

By Maureen, 17 October 2022

Paper Son (ages 5+) is an atmospheric, lyrical and gorgeously illustrated non-fiction picture book about the journey of a little Chinese boy to the USA, the Gold Mountain of many immigrant dreams in the early part of the 1900s. To fulfil the American immigration requirements at the time, the boy must assume an alternative, fictitious identity, becoming a zi jai or “paper son.” After an initial hiccup at the border, the boy is ultimately reunited with his father in their new homeland. Christened Tyrus by his teachers, the boy’s new life begins…but how does it end? The grim realities of immigrant life – both what is lost and what is gained – are lightly touched upon, but at the heart of the story is Tyrus’ unremitting love for, and belief in, his own form and style of art, and how this love carried him through to the end of his days. A poignant and heartwarming introduction for younger readers to the topics of Chinese immigration and resilience.