I See the Sun in China by Dedie King

Stars: ****

Satya House Publications (Oct 2010)
Picture Book
Ages 5+
Dual Language (English and Mandarin Chinese)

Summary: I See the Sun in China follows a young child as she travels from a small town to the city of Shanghai, portraying the events that take place from dawn until night over the course of that one day. The unspoken message of this book is the movement from the old to the new, while still maintaining some connections with the past. - Satya House Publications


I See the Sun in China is the first in a new series designed to teach school age children about other cultures and countries. Each book is bilingual in English and the native language. The books show a day in the life of a child of that country and features collage illustrations (by Judith Inglese) made from photographs, paper cut-outs and drawings. Also a glossary with a dozen or so foreign words and a country overview for parents and teachers so they can talk more about the country if they wish.

I See the Sun in China just won the 2010 PREFERRED CHOICE AWARD - Books for Kids category - from the Creative Child Awards Program.


I think teaching children about other cultures is very important so the idea of this series is phenomenal. I like that the books are bilingual. It shows the reader what the other language looks like. The illustrations were a bit strange but seeing a real photograph of Chinese people, cars and buildings really does add to the story.


I think these books would be great in a classroom. I See the Sun in Nepal is being released this month followed by I See the Sun in Afghanistan in early 2011.




Links of Interest: I See the Sun Books, Satya House Publications,

Other Reviews: NONE YET

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I am an Emotional Creature by Eve Ensler

Stars: ****

Villard [Imprint of Random House] (2010)
Teen Fiction (but more like nonfiction)
176 pages

Summary: Eve Ensler (author of The Vagina Monologues) writes fictional monologues and stories inspired by girls around the globe.
Among the girls Ensler creates are an American who struggles with peer pressure in a suburban high school; an anorexic blogging as she eats less and less; a Masai girl from Kenya unwilling to endure female genital mutilation; a Bulgarian sex slave, no more than fifteen, a Chinese factory worker making Barbies; an Iranian student who is tricked into a nose job; a pregnant girl trying to decide if she should keep her baby.

This book was both amazing and shocking at the same time. These monologues could easily have been written by the teen and tween girls themselves. Eve Ensler did a great job of channeling what girls around the world are thinking.  One could easily mistake these monologues as being by many different teen girls but Eve Ensler crafted them after traveling the world, witnessing events and listening to real conversations. She mentions that sometimes they were inspired by an article, experience, memory, dream, wish, image or moment of grief or rage.

The monologues are short, some in poem form and so it's a quick read, a book you could read a little here and there, except for one thing. It's raw, and emotional, and hard to read at times. So you can't just read a few pages and go back to playing with your children. Your mind will stay on the subject you read about. You will think of your own children (especially if they're girls) in the same situation and shudder.

It's also a needed book. The plight of girls around the world has been hidden for too long. Eve Ensler subtitled her book well by calling it The Secret Life of Girls Around the World.

Eve Ensler is also the founder of V-Day:

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery. 

Vgirls is a sub-website of V-Day just for girls. When you click that link you will be taken to the website but first it shows a special presentation that covers exactly what the book is about. I suggest if you have any interest in this book at all that you click the link and check out the beautiful presentation. It's a bit long but it's AWESOME! All the words in the presentation are from the book.

Related Links: You can view a large portion of this book online at Google Books, V-Day.Org on Twitter, Eve Ensler Bio,

Other Reviews: Reading Rocks,

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