some books by Grace Lin

This week in my class we focused our reading on books written by Grace Lin. Below are a few of my favorites. The Ugly Vegetables is the first book Lin had published. It is a great story about gardening and sharing with others. A little girl wishes that her garden had something pretty in it instead of plain green plants. Her neighbors all have flowers and she thinks growing vegetables is terrible. As the story progresses, she realizes the good things about the vegetables growing in her garden, including being able to make a great smelling and delicious tasting soup. There is a recipe for the soup at the end of the book.

Lissy's Friends is the story of Lissy. She is new at school and is having a hard time making new friends. She eats lunch alone. Lissy ends up folding paper cranes to keep her company. A sweet short story. When my students voted for their favorite book by Grace Lin, this was the one that was in second place.

Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! is Grace Lin's newest book. It is a 2011 Geisel Award Honor book. Ling and Ting are identical twins that share some fun experiences together. The book is divided into six short chapters, but the first one is my favorite. This is a great book for children just learning how to read because the word choice reflects what a new reader might be able to tackle. Children that are always compared to their siblings will be able to identify with the story found in this book. This was the most popular book among my students this week.

Some of Lin's other books focus more on aspects of Chinese culture like food and different holidays. If you are more interested in Grace Lin you can also look at her blog here.