Dingding and Dangdang – Bilingual Chinese English Picture Books Featuring Traditional Chinese Toys
Disclosure: I received book copies to review for Multicultural Children’s Book Day. All opinions are my own.
As part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day, I reviewed “DingDing and DangDang – Traditional Chinese Toy Collection (5 Books)” published by KidsJoy. The set of books, written by Yao Chen and illustrated by Yuran Hu, came in a beautiful storage box.
The five hardcover books in the collection feature good friends Dingding and Dangdang as they learn about Chinese culture through traditional Chinese toys. I love that each book features a Chinese toy that was familiar to me in my childhood. Now, I get to introduce my own daughters to these toys.
Here are the book descriptions from KidsJoy:
The Beanbags 沙包运动会
On a rainy day when it’s not possible to play outside, what could be better than playing beanbags at home? Dingding and Dangdang play them on a table, with toy blocks, and then outside in the park after the rain. Look! They are having their own little Sports Day!
The Little Rattle Drum 拨浪鼓, 咚咚咚
It’s time to celebrate Lunar New Year’s Day, the most important Chinese holiday. It is especially exciting for children who will get new clothes, lucky money, and delicious food! Aha! This time Dingding and Dangdang are playing the little Rattle-Drum game, acting like a Chinese street merchant and customer from ancient times.
The Kite 风筝飞啊飞
Dingding and Dangdang want to send the Sun a letter to thank Him for warming the world. But how can they send anything up to the Sun? They decide to make a kite and fly the letter up into the sky!
The Tumbler 不倒不倒翁
Sometimes toys can teach kids good lessons. The tumbler, for example, shows resilience as it always stands up after every fall! This time Dangdang is the one who learns his lesson!
The Shuttlecock 一起踢毽子
On occasion Dingding and Dangdang may have unpleasant moments. But that’s also the time when they grow up. By making a shuttlecock together with their “treasures,” Dingding and Dangdang finally discover that sharing is fun, and the happiest thing is to play together!
Bilingual Chinese English Picture Books
Each page shows both Chinese and English words. The Chinese words are written in Simplified Chinese characters. Note there is no pinyin (romanization system for Standard Chinese). There is a QR code on the back cover of each book which offers free read-aloud audio for readers to listen to.
Interactive Books
Playful, vivid, and cute illustrations capture the attention of little readers. My daughter enjoyed seeing the action taking place through the pictures. Through the illustrations, more learning took place, such as when she pointed to the Chinese lanterns and asked what they were. I could then explain these to her.
The back of each book includes instructions on how readers can make their own version of each of the toys featured in the books. In addition, the website www.kidsjoycn.com has free hands-on craft videos on how to make the toys. The collection box also includes a free coloring book featuring Dingding and Dangdang.
“DingDing and DangDang – Traditional Chinese Toy Collection” gives kids a unique way to learn about Chinese culture through reading and playing. The interactive aspects set it apart from other bilingual Chinese English picture books. This collection set makes for an ideal gift for young children. Purchase from Amazon or KidsJoy (Retail: $49.95).
About Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.
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