compiled by by M. Bernstein
Juvenile
Fiction
Picture Books
Breckler,
Rosemary. Hoang Breaks the Lucky Teapot. Illustrated by Adrian Frankel.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
Breckler,
Rosemary. Sweet Dried Apples. Illustrated
by Deborah Kogan Ray. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
This book for young readers describes life in Vietnam during the
U.S.-Vietnam war years. Grandfather, the village herb doctor, cares for the
family while the children’s father goes off to war. Grandfather dies in his homeland. The family leaves Vietnam for
safety in America. The children never forget Grandfather and continue to honor
his memory with sweet dried apples.
Coutant,
Helen. First Snow. Illustrated by Vo-Dinh. New York: Knopf, 1974.
Garland,
Sherry. The Lotus Seed. Illustrated
by Tatsuro Kiuchi. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, 1993
A grandmother tells about her life. She recalls her
past. She marks time and events with the simple lotus seed, symbol of the
beauty of Vietnam. The beautiful, dreamlike illustrations make the story seem
far away. The book is written in simple language with pretty pictures that make
the book good reading for young children. For older elementary school children
the book can be an example and a jumping off point to study memoirs and
biographies. The book can be used as a mini-lesson on memoir writing for
writer’s workshop.
Garland, Sherry. My Father's Boat. Illustrated by Ted Rand.
New York: Scholastic, 1998.
A fisherman, now living in Texas, wishes
for home.
Hathorn, Libby. The Wishing Cupboard.
Melbourne, Australia: Lothian, 2002.
McKay, Jr., Lawrence. Journey Home. Illustrated
by Dom & Keunhee Lee. New York: Lee &Low, 1998.
The story is of an American girl and her Vietnamese-born mother who
return to Vietnam to look for their family.
Surat, Michele Maria. Angel Child, Dragon Child. Illustrated by Vo-Dinh Mai. New York:
Scholastic, 1983.
The book portrays new immigrants from Vietnam and how they must adjust
to life in America. Unfortunately, life includes confronting racism.
Trân Khánh Tuyêt. The Little Weaver of Thai-Yen
Village. Translated by Christopher
N.H. Jenkins and the author. Illustrated by Nancy Hom. San Francisco:
Children's Book Press, 1977, rev. 1987.
A little girl is wounded in a bombing raid. She must come to America for
an operation.
Tran Kim-Lan. Têt: The New Year. Illustrated by Mai Vo-Dinh. New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1992.
Tran Ngoc-Dung To Swim in Our Own Pond: A Book of
Vietnamese Proverbs. Illustrated by Xuan-quang Dang. Arcadia, CA: Shen,
1998.
Folktales
Tran Ngoc and Duong Van Quyen. Beyond the East
Wind: Legends and Folktales of Vietnam. Illustrated by Nena Grigorian Ullberg. Thousand Oaks, CA: Burn,
Hart, 1976.
Garland, Sherry. Children of the
Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam. Illustrated by Trina Schart
Hyman. San Diego: Harcourt, 2001
This beautifully illustrated book of folktales opens with a
wonderful introduction describing the characters and settings of the tales.
Sherry Garland interjects relevant information about Vietnamese culture,
language and history, which helps the reader or listener to fully understand
the story. This book is an excellent book for a group to read aloud, or for
independent reading. This book is highly recommendation for any class library.
Ms. Garland’s familiarity with the Vietnamese culture translates into excellent
children’s literature.
Garland, Sherry. Why Ducks Sleep on One Leg. Illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng. New
York: Scholastic, 1993.
Kha, Dang Manh and Ann Nolan Clark. In the Land of
Small Dragon: A Vietnamese Folktale.
Illustrated by Tony Chen. New York: Viking, 1979.
Lee, Jeanne M. Toad is the Uncle of Heaven.
New York: Henry Holt, 1985.
Lum, Darrel. The Golden Slipper, illustrated
by Makiko Nagano. Mahwah, New Jersey: Troll Associates, 1994.
Shepard, Aaron. The Crystal Heart: A Vietnamese
Legend. Illustrated by Joseph
Daniel Fiedler. New York: Atheneum, 1998.
Terada, Alice M. ed. Under the Starfruit Tree:
Folktales from Vietnam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1989.
Vuong, Lynette Dyer. The Brocade Slipper and Other
Vietnamese Tales. Illustrated by
Vo-Dinh Mai. New York: Harper Trophy, 1992.
Vuong, Lynette Dyer. The Golden Carp and Other
Tales from Vietnam. Illustrated by Manabu Saito. New York: Lothrop, Lee
& Shepard, 1993.
Non-Fiction for Children
Allard, Denise. Postcards from Vietnam.
Austin, Texas: Steck-Vaughan, 1997.
Part of the Postcards series.
Blanc, Felice. I Am Vietnamese American. New
York: Rosen/PowerKids Press.
Part of the Our American Family series.
Brittan, Dolly. The People of Vietnam. New
York: Rosen/PowerKids Press, 1998
Chan, Anthony. Hmong Textile Designs. Introduction by Norma Livo. Owings Mills,
Maryland: Stemmer House, 1990.
Part of the International Design Library.
Garland, Sherry. Vietnam: Rebuilding a Nation.
Minneapolis: Dillon, 1990.
Part of the Discovering Our Heritage series.
Hansen, Ole Steen. Vietnam. Austin, TX:
Steck-Vaughn, 1997.
Part of the Economically Developing Countries series.
Holmes, Jim, and Tom Morgan. A Child’s Day in a Vietnamese City. New York: Benchmark Books, 2003.
A wonderfully illustrated book showing the daily life of two twin boys
living with their middle-class working parents in the city of Danang. The
photographs show the daily events in the boys’ life and the lives of their
family. It is a great first book to discuss Vietnamese family life and customs.
It is an excellent book to use to compare life in Vietnam with life in the
U.S. Students will find that the
Vietnamese twins engage in activities that American students also enjoy
doing. New vocabulary, or Vietnamese
terms, are clearly explained. The book is recommended for grades one through three.
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Hoang Anh: A
Vietnamese-American Boy. Photographs
by Lawrence Midgale. New York: Holiday House, 1992.
Huynh Quang Nhuong. The Land I Lost: Adventures of
a Boy in Vietnam. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
The stories in this book are the memories of life in the central
highlands of Vietnam. Nhuong grew up in a small village that had a river on one
side and a jungle on the other. The stories recall his encounters with wild
hogs, tigers, snakes and his pet water buffalo. Also recounted are the tales of village life, and a time and
setting now years and miles apart from the author’s current life. Appropriate
for grades 3,4, and 5. Good for use as a read-aloud to the entire class. It is also good for a starting point for a
discussion of memoirs and /or narrative writings.
Huynh Quang Nhuong. Water Buffalo Days. Illustrated
by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.
This is a first hand account of growing up in Vietnam prior to and at
the beginning of the war. This autobiography partly overlaps with the author’s
earlier volume: The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam.
Kalman, Bobbie. Vietnam: The Culture. New York: Crabtree, 1996.
Part of The Lands, Peoples, and Cultures series.
Kalman, Bobbie. Vietnam: The Land. New York:
Crabtree, 1996.
Kalman, Bobbie. Vietnam: The People. New York:
Crabtree, 1996.
Kilbourne, Sarah S. Leaving
Vietnam: The True Story of Tuan Ngo. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. New York: Aladdin, 1999.
This is an easy-to-read chapter book for young readers. The
book can be used with students up to grade five. It is the true-life story of a
boat child’s experience fleeing Vietnam, living in refugee camps and finally
arriving in America. The simple format explains in basic terms the issues of
North and South Vietnam, and the reasons why so many people left Vietnam and
came to the U.S. It describes the
hardships at sea, illnesses people suffered from, the lack of food, the fear of
pirates, and the constant stress of danger lurking about them. The book can be
a starting point to discuss hardships and difficulties some immigrants confront
as they search for freedom in the other lands.
The book can be read aloud for discussion, by small
groups or as an independent reading. The book is highly recommended for
classrooms where there are Vietnamese children whose families may have survived
similar wartime or post war experiences.
Lorbiecki, Marybeth. Children of Vietnam. Photographs by Paul
P. Rome. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 1997.
Part of The World’s Children series.
MacMillan, Dianne and Dorothy Freeman. My Best
Friend, Duc Tran: Meeting a Vietnamese-American Family. New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1987.
Part of the My Best Friend series.
MacMillan, Diane.
Tet, Vietnamese New Year.
New Jersey: Enslow Publishers,
1994.
This book describes how Vietnamese-American families celebrate the
important holiday of Tet. It describes
clearly and with photographs the customs of the Tet holiday, and the importance
this holiday has among Vietnamese-American families. The book goes into the historical significance and the customs
associated with the holiday and would be very useful to classes with Vietnamese
students. It can be used to explain how families have different beliefs and
that some children do not celebrate the more popular Christmas holiday. The
reading level is appropriate for grade three. Content and information can be useful
with grades four and five (depending on the level of sophistication of the
youngsters).
Mason Crest Publishers. Ask About Asia: Vietnam. Pennsylvania: Mason Crest, 2001.
This book is carefully designed with children in mind. The layout
includes wonderful photographs and information placed in short clips. There are
easy to find facts about the country. It is an excellent book for use with
grades 4 and 5. It gives a clear
overview of modern Vietnam and daily life, the history of the country, and an
overview of the geography of the land. The photographs entice readers to want
to discover more about this country.
McLeod, Marc W. & Nguyen Thi Dieu. Culture
and Customs of Vietnam. Westport, CN: Greenwood, 2001.
For older children.
Ng, Yumi and Condra Peters. Welcome to My Country:
Vietnam. Wisconsin: Gareth Stevens, 2003.
This book is an excellent introduction to the people, culture and land
of Vietnam. It is geared specifically to elementary school age children. It is
written in simple language and primary print, and easy to read. There are good
photographs of Vietnam. Included in the book are maps, glossaries, listing of
videos, websites and books listed for further exploration. I would suggest this as a good starting
point for children to read, understand and then research Vietnam.
Nguyen, Hop Thi and Selina Yoon. Sing 'n Learn
Vietnamese. 1998.
O'Connor, Karen. Dan Thuy's New Life in America.
Photographs by the author. Minneapolis:
Lerner, 1992.
O'Connor, Karen.
A Ticket to Vietnam. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda, 1999.
Rutledge, Paul. The Vietnamese in America.
Minneapolis: Lerner, 1987.
Schmidt, Jeremy and Ted Wood. Two
Lands, One Heart: An American Boy's Journey to His Mother's Vietnam. New
York: Walker, 1995.
Stanke, Muriel. We Came from Vietnam. Photography by Wm. Franklin McMahon. Morton
Grove, IL: Albert Whitman, 1985.
Willis, Karen. Vietnam: Modern Nations of the World. California: Lucent Books, 2000.
This is a detailed book about Vietnam. The photographs are in black and
white. The reading material is sophisticated and contains a lot of information.
The book is good for grades five-seven, where pupils are able to read and
comprehend text. The information given
is clearly formatted with lists of facts, a chronology, a list of books for
further readings, names of websites, etc. This book is a good starting point
for a research project for an older student.
Willis, Terri. Vietnam. New York:
Children's Press, 2002.
Part of the Enchantment of
the World Series.
Children's Chapter
Books, Young Adult Novels, and Anthologies
Anderson,
Rachel. Warlands. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Anderson,
Rachel. The War Orphan. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Bennett,
Jack. The Voyage of the Lucky Dragon. New York:
Prentice-Hall, 1981.
Garland,
Sherry. Shadow of the Dragon: Selected Tales of Vietnam. New
York: Harcourt, Brace, 1993.
This beautifully illustrated book of folktales opens with a wonderful
introduction describing the characters and settings of the tales. Sherry Garland
interjects relevant information about Vietnamese culture, language and history,
which helps the reader or listener understand the story completely. An
excellent book for a group to read aloud, or for independent reading. A
definite recommendation for any class library.
.
Garland, Sherry. Song of the Buffalo Boy. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1992.
Gilson,
Jamie. Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs. Illustrated by John Wallner. New York: Lothrop, Lee &
Shepard, 1985.
Graham,
Gail. Crossfire: A Vietnam Novel. Illustrated by David Stone Martin. New York: Pantheon, 1972.
Holmes,
Mary Z. Dust of Life. Illustrated
by Geri Strigenz. Austin, TX: Raintree, 1992.
The book’s theme is coping with post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Kidd,
Diana. Onion Tears. Illustrated
by Lucy Montgomery. New York: Orchard, 1991.
Mosher, Richard. Zazoo. New York:
Clarion, 2001.
The book tells the story of a Vietnamese teenager who goes
to live with her adoptive grandfather in France.
Paterson,
Katherine. Park's Quest. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Pevsner, Stella and Fay Tang. Sing for Your
Father, Su Phan. New York: Clarion, 1997.
Tran, Truong. Going
home, coming home. Illustrations by Ann Phong. San
Francisco : Children's Book Press, 2003.
Wartski,
Maureen Crane. A Boat to Nowhere.
Philadelphia: Westminster, 1980.
Wartski,
Maureen Crane. A Long Way from Home.
Philadelphia: Westminster, 1980.
Whelan,
Gloria. Goodbye, Vietnam. New
York: Random House, 1992.
The book tells the touching and sensitive story of a young girl’s escape from Vietnam. Mai, the main character describes her family’s journey to freedom and safety. The chapter book is well written and easy to understand. It is recommended for grades four and five.