Dim Sum for Everyone!
Lin, Grace. Dim Sum for Everyone! New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
The premise of Dim Sum for Everyone! is simple: a mother, father, and three little girls go to a Chinese restaurant and enjoy dim sum. They each choose a dish and “eat a little bit of everything.” In fact, “Everyone eats a little bit of everything.” What makes this book special is that you can sample and savor food names such as egg tarts, turnip cakes, sweet tofu, fried shrimp, and sweet pork buns. And the names of the little dishes are not limited to the one-line-per-page story. Pictures of dim sum foods with their names in English and Chinese float on two of the last pages. Labeled pictures of dim sum components—“Chinese kale,” “coconut milk,” “teapot,” “chopsticks”—drift on two of the front pages. At the end of the book, Lin gives a brief history of dim sum and describes some customs.
Grace Lin’s detailed illustrations are saturated in deep reds, yellows, and greens. The pleasant-faced family and women who offer the food on trolleys wear an array of brightly patterned clothing. Lin shows everything, right down to the jade necklace and earrings worn by a server and the baubles in a little girl’s pigtails. The diners at the round tables eat out of the small round dishes with their eyes closed, as if to show us that eating dim sum is one of those quiet pleasures best enjoyed in the company of close friends. For its ability to entice readers of all ages into trying out dim sum and for its deliciously detailed and vibrant pictures, Dim Sum for Everyone! gets an A.
The premise of Dim Sum for Everyone! is simple: a mother, father, and three little girls go to a Chinese restaurant and enjoy dim sum. They each choose a dish and “eat a little bit of everything.” In fact, “Everyone eats a little bit of everything.” What makes this book special is that you can sample and savor food names such as egg tarts, turnip cakes, sweet tofu, fried shrimp, and sweet pork buns. And the names of the little dishes are not limited to the one-line-per-page story. Pictures of dim sum foods with their names in English and Chinese float on two of the last pages. Labeled pictures of dim sum components—“Chinese kale,” “coconut milk,” “teapot,” “chopsticks”—drift on two of the front pages. At the end of the book, Lin gives a brief history of dim sum and describes some customs.
Grace Lin’s detailed illustrations are saturated in deep reds, yellows, and greens. The pleasant-faced family and women who offer the food on trolleys wear an array of brightly patterned clothing. Lin shows everything, right down to the jade necklace and earrings worn by a server and the baubles in a little girl’s pigtails. The diners at the round tables eat out of the small round dishes with their eyes closed, as if to show us that eating dim sum is one of those quiet pleasures best enjoyed in the company of close friends. For its ability to entice readers of all ages into trying out dim sum and for its deliciously detailed and vibrant pictures, Dim Sum for Everyone! gets an A.
posted by Angie B. | 2:54 PM
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