My expertise and passion for the theme of children’s dreams for themselves and how they achieve them began with reading wonderful children’s picture books to my kids and grandkids when they were very young. After writing one young adult novel and four cozy mysteries for adults, I realize my true calling as a writer is to create books that little readers will not only love but return to again and again to reinforce their own dreams and sense of worth as well as awareness of others. Many picture books dwell on what elders dream for their children rather than what young ones wish for themselves.
In this age of Asian-American hate crimes and racism, multicultural characters teach children to love, not hate others, especially those historically excluded, under-represented voices with diverse interests and needs. They remind others that dreams and hopes are universal and heartfelt and shared by all humans regardless of their skin color or origin.
Snow is only a dream for Kiki who lives in Hawaii. Kiki's Dream, explores the fantasies of an imaginative, curious young girl who dreams of a winter wonderland where she plays in the snow. Growing up in Hawaii, five-year-old Kiki romps on the beach all year ‘round. Still, her dream is to experience snow, which will never happen in Hawaii. With excited expectation, Kiki hopes a surprise family trip to Michigan will make her dream come true.
I loved this children’s picture book because it involves a little girl with a big dream—to play drums in public—which was forbidden to girls in Cuba at the time.
Despite many obstacles, she practiced and practiced and finally reached her goal. I also love that this story was inspired by a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba’s tradition of the taboo on female drummers.
Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule—until the drum dream girl. In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongós. She had to keep quiet. She had to practice in secret. But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.
Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers, Drum Dream Girl tells an inspiring true…
Young Mary had a dream so big that nobody, for the longest time, believed she could achieve it.
She wanted to become an airline pilot. I so admired her courage and determination, against all odds and society’s refusal to accept that women could fly commercial airplanes. This, too, is based on a true story; author, Mary Shipko is the actual little girl who dreamed big, big, big.
Rosie’s grandfather insisted he was the one to bait the hook, cast the line, and reel in the fish, when it was Rosie’s big dream to go through the fishing process from the worm to the catch all by herself. I love how the author highlighted Rosie’s close relationship with her grandfather which helps her to achieve her dream.
Rosie wants to catch a BIG fish while fishing with her Pop-Pop. She realizes her Pop-Pop won't allow her to hold her own fishing pole, bait her own hook, cast her own line, or reel in her own fish. Will Rosie ever get to catch her own BIG fish? Read on to find out in this charmingly illustrated book for children.
Nigel dreamed large with three goals: to become an astronaut, a dancer, and a superhero, but he was too shy to tell anybody—except for the moon. He also felt his mom and dad would not understand his big dream.
Career week at school finally loosened his lips in a surprising way, which I loved as much as every child reader will.
From debut author Antwan Eady and artist Gracey Zhang comes a glowing tale about the young dreaming big. A perfect story to demonstrate how pride in where we come from can bring a shining confidence.
When Nigel looks up at the moon, his future is bright. He imagines himself as...an astronaut, a dancer, a superhero, too!
Among the stars, he twirls. With pride, his chest swells. And his eyes, they glow. Nigel is the most brilliant body in the sky.
But it's Career Week at school, and Nigel can't find the courage to share his dreams. It's easy to whisper…
This book brought tears to my eyes as a little girl living in Harlem in the 1950s dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina in a time where “colored” dancers were not allowed to perform on stage.
Each night she wished upon a star that her dream would come true, though it seemed highly unlikely. I felt for this child whose dream her society strove to deny. I cheered her path to gradual acceptance in the ballet school.
Little ballerinas have big dreams. Dreams of pirouettes and grande jetes, dreams of attending the best ballet schools and of dancing starring roles on stage. But in Harlem in the 1950s, dreams don’t always come true—they take a lot of work and a lot of hope. And sometimes hope is hard to come by.
But the first African-American prima ballerina, Janet Collins, did make her dreams come true. And those dreams inspired ballerinas everywhere, showing them that the color of their skin couldn’t stop them from becoming a star.
Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés.
The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.
This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.
Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.
One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.
Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…
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