Mama's Special Wonton Soup

A story as heartwarming as the soup eventually produced, this is the tale of a little girl given the challenge of collecting some ingredients from the market. Along the way we are immersed in her village in Southern China and the traditions that make up daily life there. We meet people pulling radishes from the fields, shrimp being hauled from the lake, gingko nuts being gathered from trees. We see too traditions which may seem more familiar to some young readers – grandma napping quietly, a family picnic in the fields, playing with a puppy and, ultimately, the shared meal which bring the characters together at the end of the story.

Whilst this is a simple title that can be enjoyed with the very young, it also offers readers who are ready the chance to engage more deeply – to compare their life with that depicted, to perhaps consider the foods grown in their local area and recipes which could be made, to learn a number of key phrases in Mandarin. It may offer some readers the opportunity to share their own cultural traditions, or to even find them represented on the page, and this alone makes it a title worth a space on the shelf. Much more could be shared also in sensitive book blether sessions – either considering the relationship the little girl has with her ageing grandmother, or the concept of community and what sharing with those around you might bring to the table, both literally and metaphorically.