Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao

Product Information

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao” by Kat Zhang and illustrated by Charlene Chua is a beautiful book about a young girl learning to make homemade Bao. Her family members each give her suggestions that work for them, but as much as she tries it just doesn’t work for her. Even though she almost felt defeated, she perseveres and in the end realizes what works for her. AMY WU AND THE PERFECT BAO is my debut picture book, and seeing Charlene’s illustrations has honestly been one of the most thrilling parts of the whole process! I had a general idea of how I pictured the characters and illustrations, but I was eager to see how an illustrator interpreted the text and the characters as well. Charlene did such an amazing job giving Amy’s family dimension and character through the illustrations, and I especially loved the addition of the little kitty, who wasn’t mentioned at all in the original text. Now I can’t imagine the book without it! The first Amy Wu picture book, Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao, received a starred review from Kirkus, [21] and was a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2019. [22] It was also chosen as a First and Best 2019 book by the Toronto Public Library. [23] References [ edit ] The second book in the series is once again a look at Amy Wu's creativity. At craft time in school all kids are supposed to make a dragon and Amy's dragon is similar to the Chinese dragons from the stories she has heard from her grandma. All her friends think it does not look like a dragon at all. Amy tries to create another type of dragon, but it does not feel right to her. She once again comes up with an idea to create something which she loves and get others on board too.

In the book Amy is tired of feeling like she is too little to get in the kitchen and cook. She longs to create her own bao (delicious Chinese steamed buns) like her parents and grandmother. So determined to do it herself. She carefully puts together a plan to make the perfect bao. However when her plan hits a snag Amy has to get creative. Sometimes people will say “mistakes are proof that you are learning.” How can mistakes and wrong answers be helpful? Charlene asks Kat: Did the story change a lot from 1st draft till the version I got to illustrate? If so, what were the big changes?

Customer reviews

I would like to share that this is one of six books that I won as part of the Little Free Library organization partnership with Simon & Schuster food-themed picture book bundle. Hybrid Chronicles series is set in an alternate universe society in which every body possesses two ' souls' or human identities at birth. One of these identities, termed the "recessive soul," is supposed to fade away with age. Those who retain both souls are labelled 'hybrids' and are ostracized from normal society. The series' protagonists are Addie and Eva, the dominant and recessive souls respectively, who inhabit the same body. The girls hide the presence of Eva, who has lost control of their shared body but never completely faded, for fear of what might happen if they were ever discovered. Over the course of the trilogy, the girls are at first institutionalized for their hybrid nature, then join a resistance force for hybrid rights.

Amy Wu series is picture book and it was very easy to read for me. I like Amy because she never gives up and comes up with ideas to achieve her goal. Recently a film by Pixar called “Bao” received the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards. The short featured a Canadian-Chinese mother whose son grew up and moved away, so she was feeling lonely. Enter a perfect, plump bao to give her a second chance at motherhood. We love this sneak peek into this family’s home and meal-time tradition. It reminds us of cooking together with our own families. With the help of little hands sometimes the recipes don’t come out exactly right, but memories are made and (hopefully) the food is just as delicious. We may not be making bao, but the idea is the same. Families eating together and working through frustration is a common experience no matter who you are. Since then, I’ve been a tad obsessed with the yummy bao. I enjoy one every time I shop at the Asian grocery. So I was excited to learn of a new picture book coming out on October 1: AMY WU AND THE PERFECT BAO. In 2017, The Emperor's Riddle won an honorable mention for the NCTA's Freeman Award. [4] It also won a Parent's Choice Award. [3]

Zhang graduated from Vanderbilt University. [8] Writings [ edit ] Young Adult novels [ edit ] Hybrid Chronicles trilogy [ edit ] What a cover! Not only is there a perfect bao, but Amy and her kitty are pretty darn adorable, too. When have you tried something really hard? How did you feel when you failed? What did you do to overcome those feelings?

Amazingly (at least for me, since my stories often undergo big changes from my first idea to the final draft!), AMY WU AND THE PERFECT BAO didn’t change much from the very first draft I wrote. The biggest tweak was probably having Amy herself come up with the solution of cutting the bao dough into smaller pieces so that they fit her hands better. In the first draft, it was Grandma who came up with the idea! The kitchen stove in the story is more or less based on my actual stove. It’s a gas stove, because I’ve cooked with gas all my life. My mum cooked with gas, and my grandmothers did too (one grandmother liked using charcoal as well, but that’s another story). The rice cooker also looks similar to the cooker I grew up with, although the one I use now looks different. The Memory of Forgotten Things was selected as a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year. [20]While the dough is rising make the pork filling. In a medium sized mixing bowl add the ground pork, egg, rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger powder, fresh ginger and garlic. Mix well and form into generous rounded tablespoon sized meatballs. Refrigerate the meatballs until you are ready to assemble the bao. The bao dough before and after the second rise. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine 3½ cups of the flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp salt and 1/4 cup sugar.