Chinatown

Chinatown. City within a city. Home to street cobblers and herbalists, tai chi masters and kung fu students, outdoor fish markets and lots and lots of restaurants. And best of all, when the Chinese New Year begins there's a New Year's Day parade, complete with a lion dance.

Young readers will be equally fascinated by the tour of this colorful neighborhood—and by their tour guide and his grandma who live there.

Children's Literature

Written in the first person, a young Chinese-American boy takes us on a tour of Chinatown, where he lives with his parents and grandma. Through the simple, natural text and bright oil paintings, we accompany the boy and his grandma on their daily walk through Chinatown as they visit the street cobbler, herb shop, seafood restaurant, and outdoor market. Chinese New Year celebrations are described at the end of the book. This would be a good multicultural book for a very young audience.

William Low is the illustrator of Stargone John by Ellen Kindt McKenzie, Lily by Abigail Thomas, and Good Morning City by Elaine Moore. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design and a four-time winner of the Society of Illustrators silver medal, Mr. Low now teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, not too far from Chinatown. He lives with his wife, illustrator Margaret Hewitt, on Long Island, New York.