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‘Reading Books are Magical and Wonderful Windows Into Other Cultures’ - Celebrate Lunar New Year With Award-Winning Children’s Author Grace Lin and SCLSNJ
About Blog Post
Dec 7, 2021
by Pressroom
On February 1, the Lunar New Year will be celebrated around the world. Welcome the Year of the Tiger with award-winning and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Grace Lin and the Somerset County Library System of New Jersey (SCLSNJ) during a virtual program on January 25 at 4:30 p.m.
During the program, students in grades K-3 will digitally connect with Lin as she shares samples of her works; explains customs and stories around the Lunar New Year commemoration; and leads participants in an interactive drawing demonstration and Q&A session.
From illustrating to writing, the author of over a dozen children's books, has loved creating books since she was a child. Lin realized she “wanted to be an author and illustrator forever,” after winning fourth place in a national book making competition when she was in the seventh grade.
“There is something about stories and storytelling, and the need to communicate and share that is inherent in all humans,” said Lin. “Reading a book takes a concept that might seem foreign, and makes it familiar. When you use a book as a shared experience, it takes what is unfamiliar and makes it familiar.”
She continued, “When something becomes familiar, you can kind of see it as a friend, which is what a book can do. It's a way of making friends with another culture in a very safe way.”
Lin often writes about Tawianese-American culture in order to explore more about her heritage and share information with young readers.
“I don't write so much about my culture because I know so much about it—it's because I want to know so much about it,” the writer said. “I grew up in rural upstate New York where there were very few minority families. I spent most of my time during my childhood rejecting my Asian heritage.”
She continued, “It was only when I became an adult that I regretted not knowing all the things that my mom tried to teach me when I was younger. I've spent, and am still spending, lots of time trying to learn all the things that I didn't learn, and trying to recapture and reclaim my heritage. Creating my books is part of that.”
The author, an advocate for diversity, aspires to encourage children to embrace their own unique identities and cultures, as well as explore others.
“I hope kids who read my books realize that heritage is something really wonderful and something to treasure,” she said. “I hope it gives kids a glimpse into how wonderful and how magical it can be to see and experience things from other points of view and other identities. Reading books are magical and wonderful windows into other cultures.”
Lin concluded, “I hope the children who attend my program learn some fun things about how we celebrate Lunar New Year. I also really hope that this piques their interest in reading about other cultures and that they read my other books and books by other Asian authors, Black authors, Indigenous authors, and [other diverse] authors.”
In 2021, Lin won the Children's Literature Association Phoenix Picture Book Award for her 2001 release, “Dim Sum for Everyone!.” The award recognizes a work first published 20 years earlier “that did not win a major award at the time of its publication, but from the perspective of time, is deemed worthy of special attention.”
The book tells the story of a young girl visiting a bustling restaurant in Chinatown with her family, where they share and enjoy variations of traditional Chinese dumplings, buns, and small snacks known as dim sum.
“A book makes all cultures universal,” said Lin. “It can make the uncommon, every day, and the mundane exotic. That's what ‘Dim Sum for Everyone!’ captures over all of my books. It is so heartening to me as a long-time author to receive this award 20 years later because I was very proud of it when it first came out, and didn't win any awards at the time. It is such a nice delayed gratification.”
Attendees are encouraged to read Lin’s books “The Year of the Dog” and/or “Bringing in the New Year” prior to the program.
“SCLSNJ is excited to invite our young customers to explore the customs of the Lunar New Year with Grace Lin,” said Karen Telesco, system program coordinator, youth services, public services. “We hope attendees leave the program with more knowledge of the Lunar New Year and see how fun it can be to experience a custom that may be new to them.”
For more information or to register for the virtual program, visit: sclsnj.libnet.info/event/5663371.
In addition to the meet the author program, on February 10 at 4:30 p.m., the Somerville branch, located at 35 West End Avenue in Somerville, will host a drop-in program about tigers to celebrate the 2022 Lunar New Year for children ages 4-7. For more information: sclsnj.libnet.info/event/5787976.