Selected Books: For Parents / Children

This is a select list, chosen by China Connection's co-editors as the most important titles
in the respective categories. The newsletter, now in its 14th year of publication, has reviewed
more than 250 books of special interest to China-adoptive families.

(China Connection does not sell books nor does it or its owners receive any fees
or exchanges for any listings on this website.)

This is an effort toward providing a basic booklist for China-adoptive families. Reviews of the listed books are found in the issues (as noted) of China Connection, a national newsletter for China-adoptive families.

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Books for Parents ---- go to Medical/Developmental ---- go to Parenting ---- go to Adoption Story/Issues ---- go to Chinese Culture, History, Language (Skip to Children's books, below.)			Reviewed: Vol./no.
	Medical/ Developmental	The Baby Book --Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby--From Birth to Age Two, William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N. (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1993).	v1, #1
		Touchpoints, T. Berry Brazelton, M.D. (Reading, Pa.: Addison-Welsey Pub. Co., 1992).	v1, #1
to Top		Your Child's Health, Barton D. Schmitt, M.D., F.A.A.P. (N.Y.: Bantam Books, revised ed., 1991)	v1, #1
	Parenting	How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk, Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (N.Y.: Avon books, 1980).	v3, #1
		1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12, Thomas D. Phelan, Ph.D. (Ill.: Child Management, Inc., 2nd. edition, 1995.) (See companion video by the same name.)	v4, #6
		Real Parents, Real Children -- Parenting the adopted child, Holly van Gulden and Lisa M. Bartels-Rabb (N.Y.: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1993).	v2, #3
		Raising Adopted Children, Lois Ruskai Melina (N.Y.: Harper Perennial, 1986).	v2, #3
		How to Raise an Adopted Child, Judith Schaffer and Christina Lindstrom (N.Y.: Crown Publishers, 1989).	v2, #3
		Inside Transracial Adoption (See citation in Adoption Story/Issues below.)	v7, #3
		Attaching in Adoption, Deborah D. Gray (Indianapolis, Ind.: Perspectives Press, Inc., 2002).	v8, #2
		The Preschool Years, Ellen Galinsky and Judy David (N.Y.: Ballentine Books, 1988).	v2, #5
		The Difficult Child, Stanley Turecki, M.D., and Leslie Tonner (N.Y.: Bantam Books, 1985).	v4, #5
		Raising Your Spirited Child, Mary Sheedy Kurchinka (N.Y.: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991).	v3, #5
to Top		Raising Lifelong Learners: A Parent's Guide, Lucy Calkins with Lydia Bellino (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1997).	v4, #2
	Adoption Story/Issues	When You Were Born in China, a memory book for children adopted from China, Sara Dorow with photographs by Stephen Wunrow (Minneapolis: Yeong & Yeong, 1996).	v2, #6
		Talking with Young Children About Adoption, Mary Watkins and Susan Fisher (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).	v2, #6
		Making Sense of Adoption, Lois R. Melina (N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1989).	v2, #6
		Shared Fate: A Theory and Method of Adoptive Relationships, H. David Kirk (N.Y.: The Free Press, Macmillan Publishing Co., Second edition, 1984).	v2, #3
		Are Those Kids Yours?, Cheri Register (N.Y.: The Free Press, Simon & Schuster, 1991).	v7, #2
		Beyond Good Intentions, Cheri Register (St. Paul, MN: Yeong & Yeong, 2005).	v11, #6
		Inside Transracial Adoption, Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall (Indianapolis, IN: Perspectives Press, 2000).	v7, #3
		Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son: Abandonment, Adoption and Orphanage Care in China, Kay Ann Johnson (St. Paul, Minn.: Yeong & Yeong Book Company, 2004).	v10, #1
		Being Adopted - the Lifelong Search for Self, David M. Brodzinsky, Ph.D., Marshall D. Schechter, M.D., and Robin Marantz Henig (N.Y.: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1992).	v1, #4
		Once They Hear My Name, Ellen Lee, Marilyn Lammert, Mary Anne Hess (Md.: Tamarisk Books, 2008). (Nine Korean adoptees, age 25 to middle-age, speak.)	v14, #6
to Top		The Children Can't Wait: China's Emerging Model for Intercountry Adoption, Laura A. Cecere, MSW, JD, LLM (Cambridge, MA: Self-published, 1998). (See ordering details at http://www.chinaseasadopt.org/bookorder.html).	v5, #4
	Chinese Culture/History/ Language	Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts; Festivals of China, Carol Stepanchuck and Charles Wong (San Francisco: China Books & Periodicals, 1991). Illustrated	v1, #6
		China Wakes, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (N.Y.: Times Books of Random House, 1994).	v2, #2
		Legacies; A Chinese Mosaic, Bette Bao Lord (N.Y.: Fawcett Columbine, 1990).	v2, #2
		The Search for Modern China, Johnathan D. Spence (N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Co., 1990).
		China: A New History (Enlarged Edition), John King Fairbank and Merle Goodman (Ma.: Harvard University Press, 1998).	v7, #5
		China, a Macro History, Ray Huang (N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1988). (ISBN 0-87332452-8).	v7, #4
		China in Our Time, Ross Terrill (N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1992).	v8, #1
		River Town: Two years on the Yangtze, Peter Hessler (N.Y.: HarperCollins Pub., Inc., 2001).	v7, #6
		Chinese Lessons, John Pomfret (N.Y.: Henry Holt and Co., 2006).	v12, #5
		Wild Swans; Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang (N.Y.: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1991).
		Will the Boat Sink the Water?; The Life of China'a Peasants, Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao (U.S. publication: N.Y.: Public Affairs, Perseus Books Group, 2006).	v14, #1
		China Road, Rob Gifford(N.Y.: Random House, 2007).	v14, #4
		The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker, Eric Liu (N.Y.: Random House, 1998).	v4, #5
		Confucius Lives Next Door, T. R. Reid (N.Y.: Random House, Vintage Books, 1999).	v7, #1
		Katherine, Anchee Min (N.Y.: Riverhead Books, 1995). (a novel)	v3, #3
		Red Azalea, Anchee Min (N.Y.: Pantheon Books, 1994). (a novel)	v3, #3
		The Genius of China, Robert Temple (N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1986).	v7, #4
		Emperor of China; Self-portrait of K'ang Hsi, Johnathan D. Spence (N.Y.: Random House, Vintage Books, 1975).	v11, #4
		Speaking of Chinese, Raymond & Margaret S. Chang (N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Co., 1978).	v6, #1
		Read and Write Chinese; [using Pinyin romanization] Rita Mei-Wah Choy (San Francisco: China West Books, 1990).	v6, #1
		Reading and Writing Chinese; A Guide to the Chinese Writing System, [using Yale romanization] William McNaughton (Rutland, VT & Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1979). (Note: now available in an edition using pinyin romanization.)	v2, #4
		Concise English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Oxford; NY.: Oxford University Press, 1999).	v5, #6
		Features of dictionaries and how to select English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries (An article with graphics showing samples of page entries).	from v3, #5
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Books for Children		Listed books for children are either China-related, adoption-related, or multicultural in text or illustration. Ages are suggested.
	Infant & toddler	Say Goodnight, Helen Oxenbury (N.Y.: Aladdin Books, Macmillan, 1987).	v1, #2
		Corduroy's Party, and Corduroy's Day, Lydia Freeman (N.Y.: Viking, 1985).	v1, #2
		Peek-A-Boo, I See You, Joan Phillips (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., 1992).	v1, #3
	Toddler & preschool	If I Could Be a Circus Clown, J. Ellen Dolce (N.Y.: Modern Publishing, 1988).	v1, #2
		Lon Po Po, translated and illustrated by Ed Young (N.Y.: Philomel Books, 1989).	v1, #2
		The Postman, Rosalinda Kightley (N.Y.: Macmillan, 1988).	v1, #3
		Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies, Ann Turner (N.Y.: Harper Collins, 1990).	v4, #2
		Emma's Dragon Hunt, written and illustrated by Catherine Stock (N.Y.: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1984).	v4, #5
		Someone Says, by Carole Schaefer, illustrated by Pierr Morgan (N.Y.: Viking, 2003).	v11, #4
	Preschool & older	The Mouse Bride: A Chinese Folktale, retold by Monica Chang and illustrated by Leslie Liu (Taiwan: Yuan-Lioy Publishing Co., 1994).	v1, #3
		Dragon Kites and Dragonflies, adapted and illustrated by Demi, from Tze-Si Huang (N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1986).	v1, #3
		Red Eggs & Dragon Boats; Celebrating Chinese Festivals, Carol Stepanchuck (Berkeley: Pacific View Press, 1994). Illustrated	v1, #2
		A Sky Full of Dragons, Mildred Watley Wright (Austin, Texas, Steck Vaughn Co., 1969). Illustrated	v3, #5
		Roses Sing on New Snow, Paul Yee (N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1991). Illustrated	v3, #5
		Long is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children, Peggy Goldstein (N.Y.: Scholastic, Inc., 1991). Illustrated	v2, #1
		Hu is a Tiger: An Introduction to Chinese Writing, Peggy Goldstein (N.Y.: Scholastic, Inc., 1995). Illustrated	v3, #6
		Weighing the Elephant, retold by Jin Honggang (Beijing: Dolphin Books, 1996. ISBN 7-80051-391-2).	v4, #5
		The Empty Pot, Demi (N.Y.: Henry Holt & Co., Inc., 1990). Illustrated by the author	v5, #1
		The Dragon Prince, retold by Laurence Yep (N.Y.: Harpercollins Publishers, 1997). Illustrated by Kam Mak	v5, #2
		Nina, Nina, Ballerina, Jane O'Connor, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., 1993).	v5, #3
		The Stonecutter, retold and illustrated by Demi (N.Y.: Crown Publishers, 1995).	v5, #4
		Lord Bao Interrogates the Stone, retold by Yan Chun (Beijing: Dolphin Books, 1996. ISBN 7-80051-328-9).	v6, #4
		Tye May's Magic Brush, retold by Molly Bang (N.Y.: Greenwillow Books, Wm. Morrow & Co., 1981).	v8, #6
	Young Elem. & older	When You Were Born in China (See listing at Adoption Story/Issues above.)	v2, #6
		The Moon Lady, Amy Tan (Macmillan, 1992).	v1, #5
		Red Thread, Ed Young (N.Y.: Philomel Books, 1993).	v3, #2
		Count Your Way Through China, Jim Haskins (MN: Carolrhoda Books, 1987). Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman	v8, #6
		The Seven Chinese Sisters, Cathy Tucker (IL: Albert Whitman & Co., 2003). Illustrated by Grace Lin	v9, #6
		At Home in this World: a China adoption story, Jean MacLeod (NJ: EMK Press, 2003). Illustrated by Qin Su	v10, #4

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