The New York Times Book Review - Samantha Hunt
The rich darkness of the book's pages is cut by the glorious gold of the stars and the child's bright smile as she munches down a full mooncake every month…Lin takes what's large and perhaps overwhelming—planetary motions—and translates the scientific into story. Our child protagonist has a hand in the mechanism of the universe. If that's not empowering, if that's not fear-busting, I don't know what is.
From the Publisher
Praise for A Big Mooncake for Little Star:
Horn Book Fanfare 2018 Selection
A Chicago Public Library Best Book 0f 2018
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2018
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2018
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2018
A 2018 Nerdies List Book
An ALA 2019 Children's Notables List Pick
* "Luminous....Lin's storytelling is both clever and radiant. A warm and glowing modern myth."
—Kirkus, starred review
"The gouache illustrations are excellent....Intriguing characters come alive."—Booklist
Lin successfully combines three distinctive and memorable elements: a fable that avoids seeming contrived, a vision of a mother and child living in cozy harmony, and a night kitchen of sendakian proportions.
— Publishers Weekly
* This folkloric pourquoi tale effectively blends peaceful bedtime rhymes with the lure of irresistible snacking temptation—BCCB, starred review
"...wonderful as a bedtime book all year long."—The New York Times
* The relationship between Little Star and her mother offers a message of empowerment and reassurance. Lin's loving homage to the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is sure to become a bedtime favorite.—School Library Journal, starred review
"Lin's vibrant gouache paintings are a stellar fit for this story...this is a gentle, beautiful book for all."—BookPage
"In this bedtime read that sounds like a lullaby, a child longs to eat a mooncake she baked with her mom. Each night she secretly takes a bite, bringing about a new phase of the moon."—Parents Magazine
Praise for Dim Sum for Everyone!
"Like the pleasures of dim sum, this is a compact treat."— Booklist
"A delightful read-aloud"— Kirkus Reviews
Praise for The Ugly Vegetables:
"A lovely, well-formatted book with an enjoyable multicultural story. —School Library Journal
"A charming, childlike quality infuses the artwork; boldly hued gouache pictures feature skies and lawns as patterned as the girl's kitchen wallpaper and curtains."—Publishers Weekly
Praise for When the Sea Turned to Silver:
A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Children's Book of the Year
A National Book Award Finalist
An IndieBound Bestseller
NPR Best Book of the Year Pick
PEOPLE Top 12 Children's Book of the Year
The Horn Book Fanfare Best Books of the Year Choice
An ALA Notable Book for Children
An Amazon Best Books of the Year Pick
A CCBC Children's Choices Pick
A School Library Journal Best Middle Grade of the Year Choice
A Booklist Editor's Choice
A B&N Kids Blog 10 Notable Middle Grade Novel
KPBS (San Diego NPR affiliate) Top 12 Kid's Books of the Year
A Horn Book Book Summer Reading Choice
A Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-04-25
Little Star has trouble resisting the Big Mooncake that Mama has hung in the sky in Lin's (When the Sea Turned Silver, 2016, etc.) luminous departure from her usual block-print style.After Little Star and her mama, both wearing jet-black pajamas adorned with bright yellow stars, bake a huge yellow mooncake, Mama reminds Little Star to leave it in the sky to cool. Of course Little Star tries, but she wakes in the night, unable to resist taking a tiny nibble. Mama surely won't notice. Each subsequent night, Little Star steals another bite, and soon observant readers may realize what is happening: The Big Mooncake is waning from a full moon to a new moon. Lin's storytelling is both clever and radiant. Painted in gouache against perfectly black pages, the characters' pajamas have no edges, only the stars defining the separation between foreground and background. The mooncake gleams against the black as well, crumbs scattering like stars in the sky—a visual delight, suffusing the book with a feeling of otherworldliness that is offset by Little Star's childlike authenticity and her loving relationship with Mama. An author's note on the jacket flap indicates that while this story is not rooted in Chinese cosmology, it is Lin's homage to the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, her "favorite Asian holiday."A warm and glowing modern myth. (Picture book. 3-8)
