risinglotusproject
Rising Lotus Book Finding Project
The mission of this project is to empower Khmer youth and families by preserving Khmer culture, arts, and language through bilingual literacy.
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There are many ways to be human, as there are many ways to be Cambodian.
Chath pierSath
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Picture books to read during Cambodian New Year week
Happy TLC (Thai, Lao, Cambodian) New Years everyone! It is a time where we can celebrate our beautiful culture and holiday during the week of April 12th.
If you are like me you might or might not be thinking, are there any Cambodian New Year books out there in English or bilingual for Cambodian kids? My motto is usually if it ain’t by Khmer, I won’t buy. It is because I want to support our Cambodian/Cambodian American authors. Although I make a few exceptions due to my personal curiosity. If you are like me browsing on Amazon, there are many people who would want to capitalize on the fact that there are really not that many children’s picture books, story books, etc. on Cambodian culture, holidays, stories, and more. Sellers would raise the price like crazy!
You can definitely check with your local library to see if they carry any copies of these books rather than buying first. Remember, your VOICE matters, and the public library is there to support our communities! If they don’t carry a copy, you can always make a suggestion for purchase.
Let me share with you with what I have found:
Cambodian New Year by Michele Dufresne
Cost: $6.00
https://pioneervalleybooks.com/products/cambodian-new-year
Book Summary: A little girl recounts a Cambodian celebration at her school as well as interesting facts about this special day of the year.
My personal thoughts: Easy reader book with photographs. Published in 2006 and the photos are a bit blurry. Not too in depth on Cambodian New Year. The story is narrated in the voice of the young Cambodian girl. This book totally reminds me of my childhood, dancing the “Deer dance” in the school auditorium for all to see. Kinda embarrassing and fun for me.
Sinat and the Instrument of the Heart : A Story of Cambodia by Chath pierSath
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/sinat-and-the-instrument-of-the-heart-a-story-of-cambodia-make-friends-around-the-world_chath-piersath/
Cost: Varies, you can purchase from Thriftbooks, Amazon, etc. for $4.00 and up (also a cd might not accompany the book if purchased used)
Summary: Sinat is a young boy in Cambodia. He learns to play a thousand-year-old string instrument from the last great living master who teaches him the special skill. The story is based on the real-life experience of a boy named Sinat, whose actual musical performance is recorded on the CD that accompanies this book.
My personal thoughts: To quote the Khmer author, “There are many ways to be human, as there are many ways to be Cambodian.” -Chath pierSath
The Last King of Angkor Wat by Graeme Base
Cost: $17.95
http://graemebase.com.au/book/the-last-king-of-angkor-wat/
Summary: A timeless fable full of adventure and beauty from a much-loved storyteller. Tiger, Gibbon, Water Buffalo and Gecko are sitting amongst the ruins of ancient Angkor Wat, wondering which of them would have made the best king. The appearance of a mysterious visitor leads them to discover their true selves in a race to a distant hilltop.
My personal thoughts: Super fun book. I brought this book to a Khmer kids’ after school program and the kids loved it! The artwork is amazing. It almost feels like you are racing with the animals! Also a bonus search and find puzzle for readers. How many butterflies can you find in the pictures? It might be a challenge to find a copy of this book, but it's a popular book that you can probably find in your local library as this author published many other picture books as well.
(I personally carry 2 copies and I might do a give away for one of them!)
In My Village by Lauren Iida and Carolyn R. Hall, Illustrated collaboratively
Cost: $12.00
http://www.theantipodescollective.com/our-books.html
(The hyperlinks for purchasing these books will take you to Amazon.com)
Summary: This Khmer-English bilingual story highlights things children would find in a typical village in Cambodia. This story is a beautiful journey into the traditional Khmer lifestyle. Illustrated collaboratively by a group of Seattle-based artists in paint, cut paper, woodblock print and more.
With its captivating illustrations and simple text, written in both Khmer and English, this book is designed to speak to Cambodian children in a fun and accessible way.
My personal thoughts: Support Lauren Iida and the Antipodes Collective, period. They print bilingual Khmer and English picture books! Although I was told that the Khmer parts might have some typos, keep in mind, the wonderful projects they are doing to elevate the lives of Khmer folks. If I was to say, was there any Khmer narrative first person book that I enjoy reading, it has to be this one. I pictured the similarities in my life growing up in the states to the voice of the narrator growing up in Srok Khmer.
Other Great Reads:
Drawn Together by Minh Le
http://minhlebooks.com/drawntogether
Summary:
“A beautifully told and illustrated story about a grandson and grandfather struggling to communicate across divides of language, age, and culture.”
— Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize winner for The Sympathizer
My personal thoughts: A beautiful book that really hits home for many of us growing up and losing parts of our identity. This book beautifully illustrated a relationship between a grandparent and child and how they found a common ground.
Great news! More Cambodian story books to be published, follow on social media and stay tuned!
Support this Kickstarter! Sovann Macha retold by Vickie Hong
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sovannmacha/sovann-macha
Lunch With Samnang will be publish by Tangerine and Jade Press
https://www.facebook.com/tangerineandjadepress
Tangerine and Jade Press: Children’s books that celebrate diversity
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A great children’s magazine for Cambodian kids who are interested in learning about Ancient Khmer history, culture, arts, etc. Highly recommended. Has fun activities as well.
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Hi there, I reached out to East West Discovery publisher (based in CA) to see if they had bilingual Khmer books and they did! Samnang and the Giant Catfish was on the list, among many others. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for the heads up!!!
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Love this story reading! Check out this website for more info:
http://www.thelittlebigbookclub.com.au/media/wilbur-book-reading-in-khmer
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Turtle Power by Meiko S. Han
I went book hunting in Asian Branch Library, part of Oakland Public Library and found a rare treat! A bright colored, wonderful illustrated Khmer and English book called Turtle Power by Meiko S. Han. This is one of the many books that were published in the 1990′s to address diversity.
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Samnang and the Giant Catfish by Zeb Hogan
Published by Save Cambodia’s Wild Life
This book is definitely on my wishlist. The closest that I could get to this book is using Worldcat.org only to find that the only library that carries it is in Australia!!! Argh! No where near me. But someone kindly share some of the story online.
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Do you know the story of the Goddess and the Ogre, also known as Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso? A great story with a heroine learning magic with patience, passion, and fearlessness.
If you want to know the full story, click on the link title up above to read it all!
Checkout the audio storytelling here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqPOAf6yEyA
If you are in the Bay Area, the recorded storytelling version is available on cd titled, “Tell Me a Story, Vol. 3- Women of Wonder” at Berkeley Public Library.
https://encore.berkeley-public.org/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1679691__
And if you want a copy but its out of reach, I can share my copy with you.
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If you are a bookseller, teacher or librarian, do not pigeonhole diverse books by bringing them out only for “themed months” or holidays. All displays should have a diverse component.
Hannah Ehrlich, Directer of Marketing & Publicity at LEE & LOW Books (via tubooks)
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Dara’s Clever Trap Retold by Liz Flanagan
Dara’s Clever Trap, a retold story from Cambodia by Liz Flanagan an interesting book to behold. It is well embellished with a really hard cover for a paperback book. It also has 2 opening flaps located front and back to book mark pages and it is an easy, early reader book with short paragraphs and sentences as well. There are no romanized khmer words, all English.
It is a perfect princess story book for any girl to look up to. I feel as if the wave of Princess Merida from Brave is all the rave and that wave is trending in books for kids, teens, and adults. To summarize, the story is about a Khmer princess named Dara who is an architect and is also married to an architect as well. One day, the jealous ministers plotted to framed the princesses’ husband so that one of them can ask for the princesses’ hand in marriage. To get to the bottom of the situation, Dara uses her wit to outsmart the villains and to prove her husband’s innocence.
For one, I really like the artwork. I do question if the clothing the characters wear are spot on with Khmer traditional clothes. The princesses triangular earrings are awesome by the way.
To put it all together, I scanned the cover inside and out which entails info on the authors, and info on the main characters as well. Enjoy and if you did pick up a copy, tell me what you think.
The Heroine and the Villains:
The Author and Artist:
The Summary:
#dara's clever trap#early reader#liz flanagan#martina peluso#khmer story#princess story#barefoot books#a story from cambodia
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Books from Cambodia: Dragon’s Daughter
Gorgeous in colors and details in the illustration, Dragon’s Daughter is definitely a story book to fall in love with. It is definitely a picture book that carries an adult theme of moral and life lessons.
This story book is a lot similar to a Japanese children’s folktale I have read called “Urashima Tarō”. Apparently there are many variations of this story. In our case, there is some differences but not a whole lot. The overall message of the story itself is that “A promise is a debt.” But what do you think it means? How does it relate to this story and in our lives?
It is a story about a human boy who saves a turtle from being tortured by kids. In return for his good deed, the turtle reveals that it is the princess of the sea! The protagonist is invited by the princess to come to her underwater kingdom. With the approval of the King of the sea, our hero marries the princess and lived in the kingdom happily ever after, or so we thought. As time passes, our hero misses his home, family, and friends in the surface world. He ask the princess if he can visit them. She agrees that he can, but he must uphold his promise. She gave him a magical box, under no circumstances should he open it. She does not fill in the complete details as to why but, do you think he kept his promise? Why did she told him not to do so?
I believe that there is another message hidden in the story. I believe it is also about trust. It is about trusting someone when being shaken by a current situation or challenged under all odds. Does the protagonist carry out his promise or does he choose to not trust his love? To find out, you must read the book. Need a copy? Just ask.
Special thanks and credit to my friend, Jasmine who lend me her books she bought from Cambodia.
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Books from Cambodia: The Sons’ Heart
In Khmer culture, children’s filial piety is to care for their parents but what happens when your parents abandoned you? Should you still care for them or continue to show compassion towards them in their time of need? This story is about a moral dilemma that two brothers faced when their parents choose to cut ties with them. With kindness, they still show mercy to their parents and even took care of them in their time of need but should the parents continue to take advantage of their children (intentionally based on greed)?
“The Sons’ Heart” was purchased by a close friend of mine who had visit the motherland, Cambodia. Khmer books seem to have Khmer moral lessons that are carried out in them. Although the Khmer bilingual English grammar is not perfect, and the value or meaning is a little difficult to decipher, but if you have someone to read it in Khmer to you, I think the meaning will carry out better. I have read a few of these that my friend had purchased. The artwork in these books are beautifully done. The colors and details definitely draw attention to the eyes.
I find that a lot of Khmer story books (from Cambodia) like this, seemed to be “cut to the chase”, lack of sugar coating, emphasis on valued qualities (generous or kind, beautiful or graceful, greedy and evil, etc.), and is pretty “cut-throat”. The theme also seem to revolved around “if you do good, you get good. if you do bad, you get bad.”
To sum it up, it is a nice read especially growing up without ever seeing books written and drawn by Khmers. I definitely say it is for more older kids. I do enjoy reading it and sharing it. I am super grateful that my friend lend it to me and other Khmer folks a few times. Where can you get a copy? From Cambodia of course! I do know that Long Beach Library has a large collection of Khmer books, and so does Oakland Asian Branch Public Library as well as San Francisco Public Library. Good luck in your search. If you have any questions, please do message me.
#Khmer-English Books#khmer books#khmer moral lessons#The Sons' Heart#Reading Book#Books Are A Source of Knowledge#The World of Stories
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Rare Finds of Khmer-English Books in libraries
This week has gone by so fast that everything has been a blur for me. One thing I really like about this week is that I found Khmer-English books that are out of print. To my surprise, I found them in San Francisco Public Library. If you are ever around there, these three books will be at Sunset Library:
The Post Office by Mieko S. Han, Chhany B. Sak, and Megumi Tsukamoto (Published in 1981 by National Asian Center for Bilingual Education)
The Hospital by Mieko S. Han, Chhany B. Sak, and Peggy Okeya (PUblished in 1981 by National Asian Center for Bilingual Education)
Primary Word Book Revised Edition (Published in 1983 by The University of Iowa College of Education)
#rare books#Khmer-English Books#Bilingual Books#bilingual literacy#1980s books#san francisco public library
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Bilingualism Delays Alzheimer’s by at Least 4 Years
http://languagemagazine.com/?p=123661#.VUKVB_wHrnk.linkedin
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Beautiful.
Happy Khmer New Year family and friends! Have fun, eat good, and be safe! 🐑🐑 #happycambodiannewyear #kny2015
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Silent Lotus by Jeanne M. Lee
"Silent lotus" by Jeanne M. Lee about a little girl Lotus who is born deaf. She communicates through sign language and found great joy in dancing. This picture book appeared on a Reading Rainbow episode and was also read by Lea Salonga.
This was the first book I actually picked at the library by chance that led me to realize that it is possible to have books that reflect myself as a Khmer person. From then on, I was on a continuous hunt and challenging myself to find as many as possible. I tested myself from finding fiction to nonfiction, picture books to chapter books. I believe that I am on to something. It led me to start a Khmer-bilingual literacy blog and plans to do Khmer-bilingual story time for kids. My first time bringing story books to a local after school mentor program that reflect Khmer children has a huge impact. The kids loved the books.
Some of the kids even asked questions like why is Lotus with no shirt on? You know what, I ask the same question. My mom said when she was little in Cambodia, she used to run around shirtless in public. Many folks thought she was a little boy. Because of this question, it really does reflect a change between generations and difference between culture in a sense. Me and the kids do not understand why Lotus is shirtless. Maybe the author of this book got ask the same question many times before. I would say this is a daring book and an interesting story.
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Arya’s Adventures by khmersnextgeneration
A Wonderful story about Arya, an 8 year old girl full of dreams, wonder, and curiosity. I love how this author ties in the impact of mother and daughter relationship, Khmer values, and there is this gentle understanding and patience. I also love the photographs she used in her storytelling. The story has so much imagery, a lot of romanized words, and a lot of vocabularies to learn. It was really personal, down to earth, and genuine.
The author share my thoughts and feelings for the lack of representation of Khmers that she herself wrote her own story. It would be wonderful if she published a hard copy of her work. Check it out. smile emoticon
"Arya the Apsara" by blogger khmernextgeneration (2012)
https://khmersnextgeneration.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/aryas-adventures-arya-the-apsara/#respond
More about the author, Phira Rehm:
http://www.citypages.com/arts/phira-rhem-at-uroc-gallery-6582504
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=jsaaea
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