Grace Lin's Blog, page 140

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Roar! Today marks the start of the Year of the Tiger!

In my book, THE YEAR OF THE RAT, there is the story of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, which tells of the great race of the animals to win the the honor of a year named after them. The winning animals had their own characteristics as you can tell by how they they competed.

The Tiger won his place by sheer strength, courage and nerve. That is why they say people who are born in the Year of the Tiger are risk-takers and brave. So, this y...

Bring in the New Year!

At my recent school visit to the Winsor School in Greenville RI, they had a lantern parade to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year!




Here comes the Year of the Tiger!

fortune cookie friday

"Each day provides its own gifts."
-Chinese Proverb

regarding the care and feeding of your visiting author

Here I am, on book 173 of 308 books to be signed at my recent (and very lovely) visit at the Brooklyn Friends School:

I'm getting a bit tired.


Until, of course, the cupcakes arrive!


Only 135 books left? Piece of cake! Oh, I guess I mean cupcake...


Thank you, oh wise (very wise) Brooklyn Friends School Librarians!

book talk tuesday

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis, by Barbara O'Connor

IndieBound Description: Nothing ever happens in Fayette, South Carolina. That's what Popeye thinks, anyway. His whole life, everything has just been boring, boring, boring. But things start to look up when the Jewells' Holiday Rambler makes a wrong turn and gets stuck in the mud, trapping Elvis and his five rowdy siblings in Fayette for who knows how long. Popeye has never met anyone like Elvis Jewell. He's so good at swearing he mak...

on my desk monday

I hope you saw the Chinese New Year crafts I posted last night!

Chinese Firecracker Craft

This Chinese Firecracker Craft is safe and fire-free!

Supplies:
-bubble wrap
-toilet paper roll
-pipecleaner
-red and yellow (or gold paint) & paintbrushes
-tape/stapler
-scissors

1. Staple (or tape) the ends of the pipe cleaner to the inside of the roll. Then twist the pipe cleaner together to make it look more like a fuse:


2.Cut a 2x3 inch rectangle of bubble wrap, roll it and put it into the tube. Use a little tape on the top and bottom so it doesn't move around.

3. Paint your tube red. With the yel...

Chinese New Year Banner Craft

The simplest of crafts to start your year lucky!

Supplies:

1. red square of paper, preferably about 8x8 (8 is a lucky number!) but can be any size
2. gold paint
3. paintbrush

1. Paint a simple single line border about a half inch from the edge of you paper with the gold paint.


2. Turn your paper so it makes a diamond shape, not a square. Copying the character found HERE, paint the Chinese word for luck (FU) in the center.



3. Before New Year's Eve tape your banner right side up on your door to welco...

fortune cookie friday

"To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon."
-Chinese Proverb

#7 on the NY Times!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is #7 on the NY Times Children Bestseller list!! WOW!!!

I never thought I'd see the day when a book of mine would be on that, truly. This just goes to show the power of librarians!! They are more powerful than Al Roker!

The only small (very, very small!) downer is that the children's list is only printed when they have children's reviews...which is once a month. I have to hope that the book stays on there for a month if I want to get a real newspaper printed ...