Little Dumplings - by Susan Rich Brooke (Hardcover)

About the Book

Little Dumpling accidently rolls away from her family's tent at the Dumpling Fest and meets lots of different kinds of dumplings from all over the world as she finds her way back to her family.

Book Synopsis

When Little Dumpling accidentally rolls away from her family's tent at a Dumpling Fest, she is surprised to discover that there are lots of different ways to be a dumpling! As she tries to find her way back to her home, she meets and makes friends with dumplings from all over the world, taking delight in their similarities and differences, and developing a new taste...for adventure! Young children will love this delicious tale of discovery, diversity, and dumplings.

Review Quotes

K-Gr 2-When a dog barks, startling the dumpling maker, Little Dumpling is rudely splashed out of her comfortable, broth-y home and finds herself lost at the World Dumpling Fest. Dumplings of all shapes (shumai, gnocchi, pierogi, and more) help her evade a wandering dog and find her way back to her sisters in the knaidel booth. But Little Dumpling soon departs on the fusion food truck to see if there are still more dumplings to meet in the wider world. The familiar lost-and-found plot skips along through a string of cheerful encounters with very little tension. In addition, these cute dumplings can talk, taste, smell, read, and swim, which may make readers uneasy about the characters' ultimate destination. Readers learn about the provenance of the 11 dumplings from the endpapers, and, beyond shape, discover little about the distinctions among them. Colorful digital illustrations portray appealing dumplings that are all head with big cartoon eyes, eyelashes, and wiry arms and legs.
VERDICT The novelty of the dumpling characters is not enough to rescue a very slender story with an obvious message.
Reviewed by Jan Aldrich Solow, formerly Fairfax County Public Sch., VA, May 14, 2021

--SLJ "https: //www.slj.com/?reviewDetail=little-dumplings" (5/14/2021 12:00:00 AM)

When Little Dumpling accidentally rolls away from her salty broth at a dumpling festival, she discovers that nearly every cuisine features some kind of dumpling.
Her adventures lead her to encounters with Ghanaian fufu-she samples the thick West African stew and finds it tasty-Chinese shumai, Italian ravioli, Japanese gyoza, and more, observing all the differences among them. "Patted, pinched, filled, folded, poached, pan-fried, steamed, sauced!" the narration exclaims. Little Dumpling realizes she "had no idea there were so many ways to be a dumpling!" When Little Dumpling is reunited with her sibling dumplings (who are revealed to be knaidels, from Central and Eastern Europe), she is happy to be home but also curious whether there are "even more new friends to meet." On the book's final spread, Little Dumpling is seen on the back of a fusion food truck, waving to her siblings. The book aims to be a diversity primer but leans on tired food metaphors to do so. Occasionally, Brooke also uses othering language, such as describing a Mexican chochoyote as a "creature." Pang's illustrations are whimsical and the highlight of this otherwise unremarkable book; her dumpling characters are expressive and distinctive, with attention to culinary details. The cheery endpapers provide a guide to the dumplings introduced, naming each of them and supplying their country of origin.
A superficial take on culture and diversity when the conversation has moved beyond such surface explorations. (Picture book. 4-6)

--Kirkus Reviews "https: //www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-rich-brooke/little-dumplings/" (3/1/2021 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Susan Rich Brooke is the author of Beasties Love Booties, The Sheep Who Wouldn't Sleep, and the Owl Who Couldn't Growl. She lives with her husband in Evanston, Illinois, where they raised two kids who love exploring different cuisines-but their favorite dumplings of all are their grandmother's knaidels. Bonnie Pang is an illustrator and comic artist from Hong Kong. With a master's degree in Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University, she is currently a freelance illustrator for children's books and creates webcomics. When she's not drawing, she loves playing with dogs, contributing to the environment, and cooking delicious dumplings.