Celebrating Chinese culture
November 18th, 2022
Karina Zhou’s debut picture book, Kai’s Tea Eggs (Arsenal Pulp $21.95), due out April, 2023, is a celebration of Chinese culture and food. Growing up in Surrey, Zhou struggled with accepting her Chinese heritage. “I never knew how to navigate feeling ‘different’ from everyone else,” she says. “I felt embarrassed whenever I brought my Chinese food to school.” In Zhou’s story, for ages 3 to 7, a girl named Kai is nervous about taking her mother’s special dishes to school for Multicultural Day and runs off on her own. She meets Ming the dragon who takes her on a special journey exploring Chinese culture – including all the delicious food. Ming teaches Kai about her family roots and shows how she is unique. At last, Kai appreciates who she is and embraces her heritage. Karina Zhou is currently studying animation at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. 9781551529097
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