Round is a Mooncake

May 29, 2000
Debut author Thong cleverly uses a concept book to celebrate Chinese culture. "Round is a mooncake/ Round is the moon/ Round are the lanterns/ outside my room," explains the unnamed young heroine as she takes the reader on a tour of her neighborhood, where circles, squares and rectangles abound. Lin's (The Ugly Vegetables) full-bleed, double-page gouache pictures, radiant with traditional Chinese colors and patterns, offer a witty melange of the old and new, the cultural and the universal, the everyday and (for most of the audience, anyway) the exotic. A family feasts on pizza and dim sum, both of which come in square boxes; her father talks on his rectangular cell phone while the narrator practices the ancient art of ink writing using a rectangular inking stone and paintbrush rack. A brief glossary on the final page explains the meaning and role of Asian words and things that appear in the book. Tipping its hat to both the melting pot and ethnic pride, this makes an enchanting primer for children of all backgrounds. Ages 2-5.

August 4, 2000
PreS-K-This concept book prompts children to look at circles, squares, and rectangles through the eyes of a Chinese girl. The rhyming text describes things like dim sum, inking stones, lucky money, and an abacus as they relate to the various shapes. The last page defines unfamiliar terms. The rhymes, at times perfectly structured but sometimes somewhat forced, lack a consistent beat, which makes this a challenging read-aloud. "Round is a mooncake/Round is the moon/Round are the lanterns/outside my room/Round is a pebble/that I found/A bowl of goldfish/that make no sound." The illustrations, brilliantly colored gouache paintings outlined in black, are large, crisp, and inviting. A useful purchase for young patrons interested in Chinese culture.-Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2000
Ages 2-6. This enchanting book provides a gentle lesson in shapes (circle, square, and rectangular) as well as culture. In simple rhyme, Thong follows an Asian American girl who muses about the shapes she sees in her urban neighborhood. Exploring her home and surroundings, she points out the objects that are commonly recognized as well as those that are culturally specific--a round mooncake, Chinese lanterns, rice bowls, a checkerboard--and invites audiences to identify or think about the shapes of objects in their own lives. Lin's gouache paintings are bright and arresting, presenting scenes that have an interest beyond shape identification. The glossary, which fills in cultural details, will be very useful. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2001
"Square is the box / that pizza comes in / And dim sum / made by Mrs. Chin." In a somewhat awkward rhyming text, a young girl names objects that are different shapes; the items are an authentic mix of ones related to her Chinese-American heritage and others that are not. Highly patterned, richly colored paintings vividly convey the narrator's family and neighborhood.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)