Tricky Chopsticks

by Sylvia Chen, Fanny Liem (Illustrator)

Overview

A young Chinese American girl uses creative STEAM-powered problem-solving to master chopsticks so she can pick up her dumplings and eat them, too, in this charming and laugh-out-loud picture book perfect for fans of the Amy Wu series.

Jenny Chow struggles with chopsticks—aiya, those slippery, oh-so-tricky chopsticks! But cousin Victor’s birthday party is just around the corner, along with her family’s annual chopsticks challenge. Jenny doesn’t want to be the only Chow who never learns how to use the utensils. She’ll do whatever it takes to prove she can hold her own in her family’s long-held tradition—no matter how many experiments she wobbles and fumbles through.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665921503
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	837,849
File size:	87 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sylvia Chen remembers transferring slippery wet marbles from rice bowl to rice bowl to quicken her chopsticks skills at her childhood home in Queens, New York. She much prefers picking up dim sum and other yummy food with chopsticks—even fried chicken! She loves figuring out tricky challenges with a bit of STEAM-based trial and error, which includes making DIY costumes for her kids, often with duct tape, dollar-store finds, and LED lights. Visit her online at SylviaIChen.com.

Fanny Liem was born and raised in Indonesia, and she has loved to draw since she was a little kid. Her passion for storytelling and illustration was ignited at a young age by the picture books given to her by her uncle. When she is not drawing, she enjoys watching movies and listening to country music. Because of her love of noodles, Fanny was determined to learn to use chopsticks (even though it took a lot of practice!). Visit her online at FannyWen.com.

Editorial Reviews

2023-12-06
A young girl of Chinese descent struggles to use chopsticks.

Despite her best efforts, Jenny Chow cannot figure out how to use “slippery, wobbly, and tricky” chopsticks. Everyone she knows can pick up dumplings and noodles with ease; even her little sister has mastered the skill! Jenny’s plight is obvious to everyone. Her mother encourages her to keep trying, her cousin laughs at her, and even the waiter at the dim sum restaurant knows to bring Jenny a fork, to her great embarrassment. As the Chow family’s Annual Chopsticks Challenge approaches, Jenny is determined to learn how to use the troublesome utensils once and for all. She perseveres through extensive trial and error, but will she finally wow her family? Chen’s use of onomatopoeia (represented in both English and Mandarin characters) perfectly conveys Jenny’s frustrations, while Liem’s appealing cartoon illustrations capture Jenny’s experiments in chopstick re-engineering with slapstick humor and cleverness. Young chopstick users will find comfort in this story about a common rite of passage, but all readers will be delighted by Jenny’s problem-solving prowess. Most characters appear East Asian. In an author’s note, Chen discusses how, when she was younger, her mother set up “chopstick challenges” for her and her sisters. Instructions for making chopsticks tongs conclude the work.

A funny, relatable tale about the value of creative thinking and persistence. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews