Dim Sum Palace

by X. Fang

Overview

A little girl's love of dim sum spills over into her dreams, taking her on a fantastical food-filled adventure, in this picture book love letter to Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. Beautifully illustrated with a gold foil cover, this is the perfect gift for foodies of all ages.

Liddy is so excited about going to the Dim Sum Palace tomorrow with her family that she can't sleep. So when a delicious smell wafts into her room, she hops out of bed, opens her door and steps into . . . an actual palace of dim sum! There are dumplings, baos, buns and more delicious treats than one girl can possibly eat. Liddy just has to take a bite, but she slips and falls . . . into a bowl of dumpling filling. The chefs are so busy rolling, folding and pinching dough that they don't notice they've prepared a most unusual dumpling for the Empress — a Liddy dumpling! Worst of all, she looks good enough to eat . . .

This deliciously humorous debut picture book, inspired by X. Fang's memories as a child of epic dim sum feasts, is a dreamworld adventure that is at once a glorious celebration of the sensory world of childhood and a loving helping of food, family and culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781774881996
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	27 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

X. FANG, who also goes by Susan, is a visual artist and maker of books for young readers. She exhibits her art throughout the U.S. and internationally and has worked professionally as a graphic designer and art director for film and television studios. Born in Taichung, Taiwan, raised in Atlanta, Georgia, she now lives in rural Maine with her husband and their dog, Pamela. Dim Sum Palace is X. Fang's first picture book.

Editorial Reviews

10/09/2023

A child eager for dim sum takes a surreal nighttime journey in Fang’s solo debut, reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen. Liddy is so excited to visit the Dim Sum Palace that she finds it hard to fall asleep. After her mother wishes “Good night, my little dumpling,” clouds bearing “a delicious smell” beckon, and Liddy walks through a palace’s garden and down a hall, where two giant-size chefs prepare a meal: “There were baos, buns and bowls of congee!” When diminutive Liddy climbs bamboo steamers for a taste and falls into a bowl, she’s made into a dumpling that “looked good enough to eat!” Saving herself from becoming the palace Empress’s first bite, Liddy joins the feast before falling asleep on a warm bun—and waking ready to experience Dim Sum Palace. Retaining hand-worked textures, digitally colored graphite illustrations combine an expressive heroine with a mildly menacing scenario to winningly whimsical effect. Protagonists cue as East Asian. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

WINNER of the 2023 Society of Illustrators' Dilys Evans Founder's Award
One of Chicago Public Library's Best Board & Picture Books of 2023
One of Brightly's Best Picture Books of 2023
Selected in the 2024 BRAW Amazing Bookshelf

PRAISE FOR Dim Sum Palace: 

"In this sumptuous homage to Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen by a Taiwanese American author-illustrator, a dreaming young girl follows a 'delicious smell' out of her bedroom to a palace kitchen, falls into a bowl of dumpling filling and narrowly escapes being fed to an empress." —New York Times

"Fang’s delightful story about a nighttime kitchen adventure has shades of Maurice Sendak . . . but Liddy is a force unto herself. Full of finelined crosshatching and a saturated color palette, Fang’s artwork is deliciously off-kilter, with flattened and blocky figure designs and a fanciful sense of scale underscoring the charming imagination of Liddy’s dream. Food-loving kids eagerly anticipating a special treat will easily recognize Liddy’s wide-eyed excitement — and probably end up asking for a snack." —STARRED REVIEW, Booklist

"A real (delicious) trip." —Kirkus Reviews

"A child eager for dim sum takes a surreal nighttime journey in Fang’s solo debut, reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen. . . . Winningly whimsical." —Publishers Weekly

"A delightful celebration of food, culture, and family traditions." —The Horn Book

"A fantastical celebration of eating." —The Guardian

"Fang’s debut solo picture book is a treat for all the senses.” —Portland Press Herald

"A savory delight for young readers who enjoy dreaming about food as much as eating it." —School Library Journal

"[A] dreamworld adventure that is at once a glorious celebration of the sensory world of childhood and a loving helping of food, family and culture." —Vancouver Writers Fest

"Every page emanates exuberant energy via Fang's stylized graphite and digitally colored illustrations." —Shelf Awareness

"Fang's mix of ingredients from traditional Chinese techniques to Sendak’s edgy humor, give the book a distinctive appeal. . . . Fang also captures a child’s apprehensions, but adds some tenderness to the mix." —Imaginary Elevators

From the Publisher

10/01/2023

Gr 1–3—Liddy is so excited that her family is going out for dim sum that she can't sleep the night before. Or so she thinks—but readers may take a different view as delicious odors draw her out of her bedroom and all the way to a night kitchen where chefs are making "baos, buns and bowls of congee! Dumplings, shumai and lots of sweet treats!" There, being tiny, Liddy falls into a bowl of dumpling filling, is served to an empress who just in time hears her calling, "STOP! Don't eat me!" and chows down on yummy dim sum until she really does fall asleep. Liddy and all of the other figures in the illustrations are not only themselves as round as dumplings but also smile infectiously to give this outing a properly cheery, festive tone. And even if the next day there is no empress at the real Dim Sum Palace, "The food tasted better than in her wildest dreams." To further tempt young foodies, Fang opens and closes with a gallery of labeled dim sum treats. Liddy remains clothed throughout, but otherwise parallels in both the story and art make this delectable debut well worth dishing up with Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen as parts of a themed story hour. VERDICT A savory delight for young readers who enjoy dreaming about food as much as eating it.—John Edward Peters

School Library Journal

2023-07-13
A child takes a fantastical journey to the Dim Sum Palace.

Liddy, a round girl with plump cheeks and Asian features, is too excited to fall asleep—tomorrow her family is going to the Dim Sum Palace. “Is it a real palace?” Liddy wonders. When a heavenly aroma wafts through her bedroom door, she follows it to a grand palace, where two giant chefs are making delectable dim sum. Liddy is tiny in comparison, and when she falls into a bowl of dumpling filling, she is scooped up, folded into a bun, and served to the gigantic Empress herself (cued Asian, like the chefs) in a surreal twist of fate. “STOP! Don’t eat me!” The Empress instead invites Liddy to join her in a meal. Finally, Liddy awakens in her own bed, “hungry for more dim sum.” Liddy’s family then visits the real Dim Sum Palace, which isn’t “a palace at all” and has no Empress, but the food is even more satisfying. Saturated teal, blue, and salmon dominate in Fang’s enticing graphite and digital artwork. Human forms are plump, and both the theme and look are reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen (1970). The spread of the real Dim Sum Palace’s bright orange interior featuring tables full of diverse diners is a delightful touch. Endpapers highlight different types of dim sum. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A real (delicious) trip. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews