D Is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: I hope that others will discover this book too. I am going to share it with my ESOL students for Chinese New Year. I am learning a lot from the book. I really enjoy trying to pronounce the words. My Chinese-Vietnamese students can probably assist me with the correct pronunciation and tones, now that I have some idea.

Rating:
Summary: A visual treat!
Review: When I first leafed through this book I could not put it down because it is such a rich visual treat. Each page contains a luminous collage of paintings, calligraphy and graphics through which we are introduced to some of the many artifacts and traditions of the Chinese culture. Some words such as "gong fu," "feng shui," and "doufu" are already quite familiar to westerners. Less familiar but equally important are words such as "hong bao" (lucky red envelopes which all children receive for Chinese New Year), "qi pao" (the elegant high collared dresses worn by Chinese women),"shi er sheng xiao" (12 animals of the Chinese zodiac), "tu zhang" (hand carved seals bearing a person's name) and "xiao shun" (the words for filial piety, much emphasized in the teachings of Confucius). The pages are large and the graphics bold, making it a suitable book for sharing with a class. This is a book which visual artists, scholars, teachers and children alike will surely appreciate.