Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories is a collection of 15 beloved Vietnamese stories retold for Western children by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran, the first Vietnamese librarian in Minnesota. This collection hosts popular tales that teach readers about Vietnamese virtues, such as “The Story of Tam and Cam,” the Vietnamese version of Cinderella, which instills kindness in young children. “Mai An Tiem and the Watermelon Seeds” teaches virtues of loyalty and hard work through the story’s main hero, Mai An Tiem, an orphan adopted by a King.
In this quick, easy-to-read folktale originating from Nepal, a hat seller decides to rest beneath a tree after a long day of travel. However, when a group of curious monkeys in the tree above see him asleep, they climb down to get a closer look into the bag of hats lying beside him. When they find the multicolored, perfectly fitting hats, they dance and sing, that is, until the hat seller awakens. What is the hat seller to do when all the hats he needs to sell are on the monkeys’ heads? Thoughtfully written by Ananta Prasad Wagle, known to be a veteran writer of children’s fiction in Nepal, colorfully illustrated by Promina Shreshtha, and nearly perfectly translated by Levin Leo, who was only 12 years-old at the time, this Nepalese folk tale is the most appropriate for early grade readers or those in Level 2 on the Storyweaver scale.
This brief, easy to read, non-fiction poem originating from Nepal guides the reader from wild animal to wild animal. Each animal introduced is then given a name that describes how each one can be helpful to humans. What other names could be given to a rooster, dog, or donkey? Wisely created by Ananta Prasad Wagle, known to be a veteran writer of children’s fiction in Nepal, carefully illustrated by Samit Shrestha, and translated by Shannon David, this Nepalese poem is most appropriate for early grade readers or those in Level 2 on the Storyweaver scale, who are learning to read.