Soon Hansel and Gretel came to a little cottage. When they got quite near, they saw that the little house was made of bread and roofed with cake. The windows were transparent sugar. As I was developing a Hansel and Gretel curriculum for my employer’s ballet camp this summer, I considered the dark original story …
Continue reading How One Fairytale Sugar Coats and Lays Bare the Painful Truth About Infanticide
Happy Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month! This month we recognize the historical and cultural contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to the United States. I’ve been celebrating by launching my book, The Strength of Water, an Asian American Coming of Age Memoir. This is my mother’s memoir, as told to me, …
Continue reading It’s Here! Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month With ‘The Strength of Water’
Inside: Reflections on how my Chinese American mother taught me fundamentals of personal finance. With my daughters close to launching into the world – one a senior in high school and the other graduating from the local community college in the spring -- I sat down with them recently to have a heart-to-heart talk about …
Continue reading Five Personal Finance Lessons I Learned From My Asian American Mother
I am enjoying working with Balestier Press on my book's interior layout and with their contract artist, Andre D’Rozario, on the cover. The Strength of Water is starting to feel real! Here I share a bit about the process. The book is the story of my mother's Chinese American odyssey, so for the cover, I …
Continue reading The Strength of Water: Adventures in Book Cover Design and Interior Layout
My recent trip to the Formosa Cafe inspired me to watch the 1940 film “Phantom of Chinatown,” starring Keye Luke and Lotus Long. I wanted to see how American cinema portrayed Asian Americans at the time. The short answer is it’s complicated. In Phantom of Chinatown, Keye Luke stars as Detective Jimmy Wong, brought in …
Continue reading Surprising Asian American Hero From 1940: A Review of The Phantom of Chinatown
Today’s literary adventure is a symbolic one in honor of Qingming Festival, called Tomb Sweeping Day in English. In China, this is a three-day holiday to honor one’s ancestors dating back 2500 years to the Zhou Dynasty. Families visit the tombs and graves of their ancestors to sweep them clean, pay respects, and honor memories. …
Continue reading Honoring the Stories of our Loved Ones on Qingming or Tomb Sweeping Day
What if you could learn about an ancient tradition, enjoy a delicious dessert, and turn an ordinary evening into a fairytale? You can with the Autumn Moon Festival, a holiday born of legend. It traditionally falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month or mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar. In …
A Map Into the World is a multi-cultural picture book that helps you discuss death and grieving with children (age 5-9).