The inspiration for this book came from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, “Hop on Pop.” I loved how he introduced just two words and used these words to create a simple sentence–all while telling a funny story. It is more challenging than it looks. I decided to take this idea–this challenge–to create story that utilized the unique nuances of the Chinese language. I like how Chinese words are made up of components that describe the word quite literally. For example, “balloon” in Chinese is “air-ball.” “Train” in Chinese is “fire-car.” So I made a book centered around the word, “fire” and all the words that stem from it.
Hence, “Turkey Rides a Rocket” was born, and I’m excited to share it with you and your family. It follows a turkey on a dangerous adventure, one that will have you laughing.
Here are previews of some of the inside pages. You can see the book uses a big font and colorful illustrations to engage young readers. Each story also is supplemented with parent tips and a game at the end to encourage further application of the vocabulary you have just learned.
There are two other stories included in this book as well. The second story, “Where is Little Brother?” is a finding or I-spy story, where you can encourage your child to find an item in a detailed 2-spread picture. This has been very effective in teaching my daughter how to say, “Where is_____” in Chinese, even if she does not know how to say the item in Chinese, it has made that phrase useful to her.
The last story is called, “Mama’s Tea.” This one is a rhyming story, and works to reenforce reading and pronunciation. The mom in this story goes crazy after she finds that the dad has been drinking her tea. Perhaps it is how I wish I could act if I could let my emotions fly loose.
All in all, it is 66 pages of easy, useful Chinese. If you are not a Chinese speaker, you can listen to the online audio for this book and never miss a beat. Below is a video where I read the book, cover to cover.
I hope this book gets you excited to use more Chinese in the home! Let me know your thoughts and if you get the chance to review it on Amazon, that would help me to be able to produce more books for you.
Happy Learning!
Available in paperback on Amazon!
Tiny Chinese Homeschool 