'Little Bun: A Bilingual Storybook About Feelings' Book Review - Multicultural Children's Book Day

I was very excited to be gifted a copy of "Little Bun: A Bilingual Storybook About Feelings" by Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett and Emily Blodgett to review for Multicultural Children's Book Day. Amanda is the founder of Miss Panda Chinese and is also the Chinese Language consultant on the Netflix show, Word Party.

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"Little Bun" was written by Amanda and her daughter Emily (so sweet! It makes me want to write a book with my kids!) and is a simple, easy to understand book about feelings for young children. I always kept a handful of books about feelings in my classroom library when I taught preschool to help the children learn about all the different emotions they could be experiencing.

There are 12 feelings addressed in the book: happy, not happy, excited, worried, surprised, scared, brave, shy, curious, angry, sad, and tired. For each feeling, Amanda and Emily include a physical feature (he frowns, laughs, closes his eyes) as well as an action (sings loudly, doesn't want to talk, says "It's very scary"). These cues help children learn how to identify feelings in others, and in themselves. When we discussed feelings in my class, one of the things we would talk about is what someone's face looks like when they are happy, sad, etc. The bun illustrations are simple but expressive and effective - and adorable! By keeping the images simple, it really highlights the facial features you want the children to notice. My favorite illustration was when Little Bun was feeling brave - before I even read the text, I looked at his face and said, "He looks like he's ready to do something adventurous and maybe a little dangerous, like jumping off the swing while it's swinging high!"

In addition to being a great book for introducing emotions, "Little Bun" is written in English, Simplified Chinese, and Pinyin! Which also makes it an incredible resource for introducing children to another language. Even if you have no intention of learning or teaching your children the language, I always think hearing other languages and learning a few words is infinitely beneficial to children. It expands their world vocabulary and generates interest in other cultures/languages. Thankfully, Amanda has included a read aloud link so we can hear the story pronounced properly and can practice saying the feelings words.

"Little Bun" would be a fantastic addition to any early childhood school or home library. I hope you check out "Little Bun: A Bilingual Storybook About Feelings" by Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett and Emily Blodgett for yourself!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2023 (1/26/22) is in its 10th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.

Ten years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

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📌 FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

📌 Register for the MCBD Read Your World Virtual Party

Join us on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 9 pm EST for the 10th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Read Your World Virtual Party!

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

We will be giving away a 10-Book Bundle during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. We look forward to seeing you all on January 26, 2023, at our virtual party!