Dumpling Dreams

July 15, 2017
One of America's most famous 20th-century immigrants, Joyce Chen, gained notoriety the hard way.Brought up in pre-revolutionary China, Chen left Shanghai with her husband and two children in 1949 to immigrate to the U.S., where she settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lively cartoonish pastel-and-crayon illustrations and rhyming couplets show how young Jia (later renamed Joyce) learned to cook with a man the text simply calls Cook, possibly a family servant, mastering the traditional art of making dumplings, noodles, and sweet rice balls. At the dragon boat festival, she proudly presents her father with her own creation, zongzi rice packages tightly tied "with five bright strings." Once in the U.S., Joyce and her children face the challenge of life in America: "New words to learn. Strange food to try." Chen becomes a mentor to other Chinese immigrants and is soon inspired to open a restaurant. The restaurant is immediately popular, but her dumplings aren't. She overcomes the perception of Chinese food as "gluey stew" by rebranding her dumplings as "Peking Ravioli." A cookbook and a TV show soon follow, and she has successfully introduced authentic Chinese cuisine to the East Coast. A timeline, glossary, bibliography, and dumpling recipes are included. A fascinating historical character is presented in terms easy for young children to appreciate, and requests to experiment with dumpling dough will certainly ensue. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)

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August 7, 2017
Joyce Chen (born in Beijing in 1917 as Liao Jia-ai) made a name for herself in Cambridge, Mass., and later across the U.S. through her restaurants, cookbooks, and TV show, Joyce Chen Cooks. In chirpy couplets, Clickard follows Chen’s childhood infatuation with cooking, her later move to the U.S. with her husband and growing family, and her expanding culinary empire. Wu’s brightly colored digital artwork maintains a cheerful mood, even during moments of nervousness or uncertainty. The clipped verse can’t always do justice to major events in Chen’s life (“Troubles come. War in the news./ The heart of China split in two./ Days of worry, nights of fear—/ even dumplings taste of tears”), but a detailed timeline fills in some context, along with other resources. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary.

September 1, 2017

K-Gr 2-A picture book biography about Joyce (born Liao Jia-ai) Chen, who is credited with bringing the dumpling to the United States. Through appealing digitally rendered illustrations and upbeat rhyming text, Clickard celebrates the life of Chen in a way that entertains and informs. The narrative begins with Chen's life as a child in China and then quickly transitions to her early adulthood as she marries, has children, and moves to the United States, eventually settling in Cambridge, MA. The text gently touches on the Chinese Communist Revolution: "The heart of China split in two." (This may prompt students to ask about Chen's family leaving China, but further information about the time period can be found in the time line in the back matter.) Her name change is also glossed over. Chen would go on to first popularize Chinese cuisine in her community through a restaurant and then in the larger United States through a cookbook and TV show. A recipe for making dumplings at home is also included in the back matter. Fans of Lynne Barasch's Hiromi's Hands, Susanna Reich's Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat, and Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee's Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix will find much to enjoy here. VERDICT Though picture book biographies with a culinary theme are many, Clickard's title is a charming addition.-Celia Dillon, The Brearley School, New York

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2017
Grades K-3 As a child growing up in pre-Communist China, Jia learns to make dumplings, noodles, and sweet rice balls. As a schoolgirl, she is known as Joyce. After marrying Thomas Chen, she becomes Joyce Chen, a name she will later give to restaurants and food-related businesses. Credited with popularizing Mandarin-style cooking in America in the 1960s and '70s, Joyce opens her first restaurant in Massachusetts after her egg rolls are a hit at her children's school bake sale. She later hosts her own television cooking show and in 2014 appears on a U.S. postage stamp. The rhyming text and brightly colored digital illustrations maintain an upbeat, positive tone appropriate for a young audience, even as they allude to serious topics, such as war in China causing Joyce's family to relocate to the U.S., and the difficulties of adapting to a new culture. A glossary effectively explains many elements pictured but not detailed in the text, while a time line at the end fills in historical context. Includes dumpling recipes for those eager to taste for themselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)