Mei-Mei Loves the Morning is a beautiful multicultural children's book
about a young Chinese girl and her Grandfather and how they spend their days
together.
The book opens as Mei-Mei awakens in the morning to the sounds of her
grandfather and their pet songbird, Bai-Ling.
From there – and after breakfast - the author takes the reader on the
journey that is Mei-Mei’s day spent with her grandfather. They ride on a bicycle through the town to
the park. On the way, there is a great
deal of detailed explanation of the sights and sounds of the hustle and bustle
of the morning in the city. Once at the
park, Mei-Mei and her grandfather join their friends for tai-chi and tea. Then
again, on their way home, Mei-Mei and her grandfather are treated to the
goings-on of the busy city in which they live.
The story is not just about how Mei-Mei loves the morning, it is about
how she loves spending time with her grandfather just as he loves spending time
with her.
This book is a fantastic multicultural work that provides ample opportunities for young readers to see what the very different life and culture
is like in a busy Chinese city. Mei-Mei
is not unlike her American peers, but her experiences are far different that
those of the children likely to read and learn from this book. The illustrations were watercolor and very bright. The facial expression were great along with all the little detail!
Classroom Activities:
Create a schedule of how the students spend their Saturdays or Sundays
when they are not in school.
Practice some traditional Chinese tai-chi exercises such as the
tiger-taming, bird-grabbing and ball-carrying from the book.
Questions for the Students:
What sort of things do you do when you spend time with your grandparents?
What kinds of special foods do you eat with your family?
I thought this book was cute and brought back lots of meomores of my Grandfather and I. I loved him a lot and grew up visiting with him after shchool and over the summers.
Tsubakiyama, M. (1999). Mel-Mel Loves The Morning. United States of America: Albert Whiteman & Company.
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