Picture Book 25

A.    Author: Ed Young

B.     Title: My Mei Mei

C.     Illustrator:  

D.    Readability:ages 6and up

E.     Genre: Diversity

F.      Subgenre: Fiction

G.    Theme: Adoption, sisters, Chinese Americans

H.    Primary and secondary characters: Antonia

I.       Award(s) date of publication: N/A

J.       Publishing company:Albert Whitman and Company

K.    ISBN number: 0-399-24339-9

L.      Brief summary: Antonia is named after her Nonna, she was flown home from China to the US. As she grew older she would play Jieh-Jeih big sister and mommy. She would even pretend to change Bab’s diaper. She had an imaginary sister named Jian Hai. She asked her mother if oen day she could have a real sister. At the age of 3, Antonia took a trip to China to bring a real Mei Mei home. Her sister was scared and upset and cried a lot. Antonia offered her teddy bear to mei mei, she became quiet. Antonia realized thought that her sister was not what she expected. She didn’t play, talk and took all the attention away. Soon a teacher came to teach her how to crawl and walk and she was given treats. The teacher even gave Anotina a treat too. A boy took her shovel away at the park one day, she stood up for her sister, making her feel good. Her Mei Mei soon came to see her t school. That summer they went to Cape Cod, she showed her Mei Mei all sorts of fun and dangerous creatures, like a jellyfish. They used to play cats, and they now have cats, Antonia helps her Mei Mei by doing math and reading and more board games so they can play together. At the end of the story, they both wanted a new Mei Mei that they both can share.

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: This book can be helpful for students to understand the growth of a family. It shows us that when a child is first brought into the family they cannot do everything like you and I, it takes time. We then can have students talk about or write about bringing a new sibling into the family. It can help students cope with adoption of a new member or just a birth of a new member.