Zui Hao Chi de Dan Gao (最好吃的蛋糕) ISBN: 9787539420059. Don't read this to your kids if they're hungry (or if you're hungry yourself)! Even the obvious title "The most delicious cake" does not capture all the types of cakes, desserts, donuts, etc. that come alive in the fabulous illustration and charming plot. The forest is having its annual cake competition, and each group of animals works together to create a cake to be judged by the Lion. The Lion (cutely drawn, not scary at all) takes a bite of the rabbits' cake, and immediately announces this as the winner. The other animals start complaining, and their complaints turn into childish bashing of one another's cake. One thing leads to another, and a cake fight eventually takes place. During the commotion, the elephant knocks over the table on which all the cakes were placed. There is a moment of sadness and despair as the animals watch the products of their hard work mangled on the ground. Before my sensitive kids start to worry too much, the cheerful Lion emerges from this mountain of mangled cakes, announcing that he's just had a bite of the best cake ever. So the best cake is one that combines everyone's cake (huh?) and effort (ah ha). The last page shows all the animals building a large cake together. The meticulous details of the illustration are precious. I can stare at this page many times and still find something new. The harmonious and happy animals working together certainly teach kids about teamwork and all that good stuff, but not without some humorous realism (the hippo secretly takes a bite of the cream while the bear stands on him to place chocolate on the cake). This is a book I have enjoyed as much as my kids have.
Wo Xiang Fei (我想飞) ISBN: 9787539420035. As opposed to the last book I described (Zui Hao Chi de Dan Gao), this is a book my boys both love, but I have been partial to it. Don't get me wrong - it's still a great children's book. Perhaps the reason is because I no longer dream of flying whereas I can still dream of a delicious cake. "Wo Xiang Fei" stars an overweight dragon Duo-Te (did he come from the land of the best cake?) who cannot fly. His little mouse friend encourages him to eat less (unsuccessful) and exercise every day (somewhat successful). One day, Duo-Te's anorexic friends get scooped up and trapped by a strong wind. Without thinking much, Duo-Te immediately flew over to save them, and it was at that moment that everyone realized he can fly. Yes, they have a party for him - an obligatory ending to this plot. I'd like to think the boys are getting the main messages including the importance of friendship, the benefits of exercising, the necessity of working to achieve your goal, etc. But I think what they really learn at the end of the day is - whenever something good happens, you have to celebrate with a party and lots of cupcakes.
Xiao Qi E Yao Xue Fei (小企鵝要学飞) ISBN: 9787883073444. Along the lines of flying, this is a book I much prefer over the last one I described (Wo Xiang Fei). Fortunately my boys also love this book; unfortunately we just had to return it to the library. Jason still asks for it though, so I may need to somehow get a hold of a permanent copy. This book also comes with a CD on which the story is read on one track, and some more background on penguins is given on the other track. A little penguin Qi-Qi is frustrated that he can't fly like his friend Pi-Pi (a type of bird... the English for this species escapes me). Pi-Pi first guesses it's because Qi-Qi is too skinny. Qi-Qi says, " I was born like this. Have you ever seen a penguin as skinny as a stick?" (with an illustration of a bizarre-looking stick-like penguin which always makes my boys laugh). Pi-Pi does not give up, and equips Qi-Qi with lots of leaves to bulk up his wings. Qi-Qi jumps, only to fall immediately into the water. Now the scary part happens - a seal sneaks behind Qi-Qi and almost eats him. A couple of well-written sentences describing the stressful chase almost turned Calvin away from this book completely. I had to skip these a few times in the beginning to assure Calvin that Qi-Qi always ends up fine. Now, Qi-Qi realizes he is really good at swimming, and really enjoys it. He no longer feels sorry for himself because he cannot fly. After this illustrated part of the story ends, there are a few pages describing these penguins in more detail than my kids can currently handle. However, they are extremely excited to see the pictures of real baby and adult penguins on these pages. We call them "the real Qi-Qi" or "the real Qi-Qi's mom & dad". We were really lucky to have found this book at the library - I miss it too.
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