I thought this book was a great read for 3 reasons. First, the writing was very effective in conveying its message. The narrator starts off from the first page discussing family traditions through the recall of different things her family has said. For instance, she uses her Grandma’s nickname for the family “chop suey”, meaning all mixed up in order to illustrate the fact that her family is a culmination of many different heritages and backgrounds. Additionally, I think it was a good choice to include some writing in Korean along with English translations, because this made it more interesting to me. The second reason I enjoyed this book was because it is writing in an organic way and the plot events are believable. You can tell that the story is written from the perspective of a child who is describing the way the New Year family gathering is unfolding. The child starts off watching and wishing she could help her family prepare for their gathering, then she finally can help, but she struggles, and by the end of the night, Grandma passes out her funny-looking dumplings to everyone. They all love it. The third reason I enjoyed this book was because the book is fairly accurate to actual Korean traditions. My boyfriend is Korean, so last year I spent the Korean New Year making mondoo and I related to the little girl because I was a bit insecure about how my dumplings were turning out, compared to the rest of his family who had made them all their life. Additionally, through research I have seen that many of the traditions that the book describes, such as making dumplings together, bringing many foods and setting off fireworks. I think that the overall message of this story would be that although people have differences on the outside, they are the same on the inside, just like the dumplings are. ( )

Marisa can finally help make the dumplings for the New Years celebration the family is having, but when her dumplings are not like everyone else's she is disappointed. Through the story she learns about her culture and traditions and begins to develop self esteem and learns the imporatnce of family.

Source: Pierce College Library

Dumpling Soup is a realistic fiction picturebook intended for pre-k through 2nd grade. In Dumpling Soup, Marisa can finally make dumplings for her family's new year celebration. She gets discouraged when her dumplings are not as pretty as her fellow family members. I loved this book. Not only does it discuss self-esteem and such, but it also covers tradition and culture. At the beginning of the book, there is a glossary with Hawaiian, Japanese, and Korean translations and pronunciations. I believe that this allows students to dive into the culture. I do not know how well having students individually reading the book will go. I would recommend this picturebook to be used in a classroom. I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked this book because of the tradition and diversity within the book. But I didn't like the inclusion of so many foreign words to students. I feel as though the intent can backfire by confusing the students individually reading it. However, as a read aloud, this book can be utilized in such a meaningful way. ( )

Dumpling Soup is a fiction picture book for grades preschool through third grade.

The book is from a young girl's point of view as she prepares for New Year's Eve with her family as they follow traditions of making dumplings and preparing many dishes from Asian Cuisine as their family is originally from multiple Asian countries bringing their culture along with them.

Although the book provides a diverse story with unique culture, the storyline is nothing above average and can prove to be difficult for the young group it is intended for. Throughout the book, there are references to unfamiliar foods and words from multiple different languages. This poses an issue for the teacher reading it as they may not understand what the book is talking about and pose difficulty for a student if they are attempting to read the book themselves. The students may not be able to read the words or comprehend the words once sounded out as the unique features present themselves throughout the entirety of the book. If this book were to be used in an average American classroom, the teacher would be required to preface reading the book by doing a book and culture introduction with anchor charts or other forms of references for the students throughout the reading. With this requirement, students in preschool through third grade might be overwhelmed by the complexity presented by this book.

Overlooking the problems presented by this book, it is very benefial for students to be exposed to different cultures as they learn about the common food of dumplings and can even be asked to share their own family traditions during holidays similar to the family in the book eating dumplings immediately after the clock strikes twelve. In addition, they could talk about different superstitions similar to how the family stated that if someone fell asleep before midnight their eyebrows would turn snowy white. Lastly, the class could discuss minor aspects of their homelife that might not be shared by all, such as taking shoes off before entering a house. Overall, there are so many complexities and unfamiliar cultural aspects to the book that a teacher should prepare for the book in advance for the reading and comprehension to be successful in the classroom. ( )

Dumpling Soup is a realistic fictional picture book that can be read or read allowed to ages pre-school- 3rd grade. This book is about a girl named Marisa who lives in Hawaii and is celebrating the New Year with her family. Throughout the book, Marisa explains her families tradition of making dumplings and how they make them. Marisa also tells some of her families other traditions such as going to her grandmother's house and staying up late. This is an excellent book because it shows the New Years culture of a different ethnicity in America. Students can either relate to this culture or learn about a new culture/tradition. I also like that this book has a glossary in English, Japanese, Hawaiian, and Korean to explain the different vocabulary and shows which language the words come from. ( )