At the Beach by Huy Voun Lee

At the Beach by Huy Voun Lee is an exceptional picture book that explores Chinese characters and their significance. Xiao Ming and his mother are at the beach and begin drawing Chinese characters with a stick in the sand. Xiao Ming’s mother explains the logical nature of many significant Chinese characters. Beautiful cut-paper collage illustrations correspond with the text to produce a thorough and interesting explanation of Chinese characters. The illustrations depict people of all skin colors interacting with one another. Additionally, the collage style incorporates a three-dimensional feel and textural appeal to the picture book. The bright contrasting colors and intricate patterns present an uplifting and brilliant visual appeal to the story.

This picture book is a beautiful piece of diverse literature. The diversity of the illustrated people in body type, skin color and other qualities present a sense of community between diverse people. The illustrated characters model a lack of cultural and racial barriers between people. A pronunciation guide is present at the end of the book and thus, would not be repetitive to a person who is fluent in Chinese. According to an article by Barrera and Quiroa, this is an important factor to take into consideration. Each character has an English equivalent, a Chinese pronunciation, and a picture to represent the logic behind the character. The author, Huy Voun Lee, was born in Cambodia and studied Visual Arts in the United States. This picture book was recommended in “Asian Pacific American Children’s Literature: Expanding Perceptions About Who Americans Are” by Sandra S. Yamate.

"At the Beach (Paperback)." Amazon.com. 2008. Amazon.com, inc. 2 Nov. 2008 .
Barrera, Rosalinda B., and Ruth E. Quiroa. "The Use of Spanish in Latino Children's Literature in English: What Makes for Cultural Authenticity?" (2003): 247-65.
Lee, Huy Voun. At the Beach. 1st ed. Boston: Henry Holt & Company Books For Young Readers, 1994.Yamate, Sandra S. "Asian Pacific American Chlidren's Literature: Expanding Percpetions About Who Americans Are." Using Multiethic Literature in the K-8 Classroom. 95-128.