Uplift: AANHPI Kidlit News January 2025
Happy Solar and Lunar New Year! Book review, WRAD, and Write Togethers!
Happy New Year from all of us here at Uplift:AANHPI Kidlit! We’re streamlining the newsletter for 2025, because we know your time is precious! We’ll still have lots of features, but they’ll be spread out over the year instead of packed into each issue. Let us know if there’s something you’d like to see from us. Wishing you peace, joy, and lots of great books (and the time to read them)!
Book Review:
Lunar New Year is on January 29th and reading THE QUEST FOR A TANGRAM DRAGON, written by Christine Liu-Perkins and illustrated by Lynn Scurfield, is a great way to celebrate! In Chinese mythology, dragons are kind guardians and bringers of rain. In this book, a small triangle embarks on a search for a dragon to help end the drought. On the way, it bumps into other geometric shapes and enlists their help. Together, they form animal shapes such as a butterfly, a bird, and a fish in order to cross the landscape and fulfill their quest. This sweet and playful book not only introduces readers to the Chinese tangram puzzle but also touches upon Chinese culture, mathematical concepts, and the spirit of collaboration. To make the book even more interactive, print out the activity kit that Christine has provided here so you and your kids/students can make your own tans (which is what the geometric pieces are called) and make the animal shapes as you read. The activity kit also has riddles to solve. Riddles are a traditional Chinese New Year activity, but in this case, you solve them with tangrams!
Meet the Author Events
In this section, we’ll be highlighting events where you can meet us!
WORLD READ ALOUD DAY will be on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 and it’s the 15th anniversary! Both Dow and Malia will be participating but only have a few open slots left! Sign up at the links below to have them read to your students!
Write Togethers
Is one of your new year resolutions to finish that manuscript or illustration?Join us for some writing/working sprints! Uplift members will be hosting 75-minute write-togethers on a continuing basis to help reach your (and our) creative goals. The format of the sprints will be:
5 minutes--intro, questions
30 minutes--write (or draw or work on a creative project)
5 minutes--check in, stretch, questions
30 minutes--write (or draw or work on a creative project)
5 minutes--finish, questions, etc.
Upcoming sprint dates are below. Reach out via DM or email, or leave a comment, and we’ll send you the Google Meet or Zoom links. Let’s write together! **Please note time zones and AM/PM designations!**
Monday, Jan. 13, 9:00-10:30PM Pacific Time (Nicole)
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 8:00-9:30AM Mountain Time (and every 2nd Tuesday of the month after that)(Malia)
Thursday, Jan 23, 9:00-10:30AM Mountain Time (Andrea)
Monday, Jan 27, 9:00-10:30PM Pacific Time (Nicole)
Are you a traditionally published AANHPI kidlit creator? Want to be featured in the newsletter with your upcoming AANHPI book? Email us at UpliftKidlit@gmail.com!
We now have a Bookshop.org affiliate page. Click here to buy or pre-order our books and the books we mention in this newsletter!
Enjoyed this newsletter? Forward to a friend!
I'd like to participate on Monday, Jan. 13, 9:00-10:30PM Pacific Time (Nicole) vsubhat at hotmail
Another great newsletter! :) I’d like to share some news. My debut picture book, What Lolo Wants, is a finalist in the children’s literature category in the 2025 Minnesota Book Awards! Winners will be announced in April.