Ling & Ting Share a Birthday

Starred review from July 8, 2013
Lin continues to work wonders within the early reader format in twins’ Ling and Ting’s birthday-themed second outing. In six stories, the girls receive birthday shoes, shop for presents, bake cakes, make wishes, open their gifts, and read a story. Despite working with a limited vocabulary, Lin infuses the twins’ every interaction with personality and understated humor, while underscoring the girls’ individuality. When baking, “Ling reads the cookbook very carefully. She mixes butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Ting does not read the cookbook carefully. She mixes butter, sugar, and eggs.” After the girls exchange gifts, they both hope the other will share hers—and don’t need to wait long: “Ling and Ting like their gifts. But they like the other’s gift a bit more.” Lin’s utterly cheerful, vintage-inspired gouache illustrations provide many opportunities for children to spot the differences between the twins, and the story’s final chapter, in which the girls read about the birthday adventures of a pair of twins named Ming and Sing (who aren’t nearly as good at sharing) is a triumph of metafiction. Ages 6–9. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

May 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-In this charming early reader, twins Ling and Ting share everything, including, of course, their birthdays. The six short chapters offer multiple chances for Ling and Ting to solve dilemmas concerning sharing things, ranging from birthday shoes to birthday wishes. Lin presents various opportunities for prediction [huh?] and retelling. The gentle repeating sentence and story structures will assure listening comprehension. Angela Lin's controlled and deliberate pacing is ideal for this target audience. A track with page turn signals is a bonus for those who have the print book at hand. Well worth adding to libraries looking for titles for younger listeners.-Terri Perper, Middletown Public Library, MD

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