Chinese Menu by Grace Lin

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Chinese Menu: The History, Myths and Legends Behind Our Favorite Foods by Grace Lin. We are huge Grace Lin fans and this book is all of Grace Lin’s brilliance wrapped into one book. There are incredible stories around foods we love. There are gorgeous illustrations and visuals. There are recipes and personal stories. There is so much to love about this book. It is one of those books that you can read cover to cover OR you can dip in and out of, reading bits and pieces of interest.  

This book provides so many entry points for readers and teachers. We always love short pieces to share with elementary and this book has many of those. They can be read aloud or children can read them on their own. Children may study the illustrations or go straight to the story about their favorite food. The mix of mythology and information is great fun! It’s such a unique format that the possibilities are endless!

 If you don’t follow Grace Lin on social media, you’ll want to start. To go along with this book, Grace has created “One Minute Myth” videos that would be perfect to share with elementary students. And if you want to learn more, there is a great interview with Grace here.

We can see this book in all K-6 classrooms. There really is something for everyone!