Everyone's heard the benefits of teaching your child Chinese, which is expected to become the most widely spoken language in the world. But who knew it'd be so hard to find books for the budding polyglot.
Detroit-born Taiwanese American Chris Lin (no relation to author of this review) faced exactly this problem. Lin adopted his now-three-year-old daughter Mandy from China and hoped to teach her Chinese. He scoured bookstores in New York and Chicago but did not find suitable Chinese language books for Mandy's age. What little he did find was culturally inappropriate, with cartoon characters sporting "googly eyes" that he did not want his daughter to emulate.
So instead, he created his own line of books featuring Mandy and her imaginary friend Pandy as main characters. In the first book, Mandy and Pandy Say 'Ni Hao Ma,' the duo describe things they like, such as French fries, swimming, and their friends, whom in the pictures are a multi-cultural crowd. And that's what's unique about the Mandy and Pandy series—it's tailored toward American children, who Lin hopes can identify with Mandy.
With thick cardboard pages, pastel colors and accompanying finger puppets of the lovable characters, the books feature simple sentences in simplified Chinese. Most importantly, it's fun, and parents and kids alike can testify. All of thirteen buyer reviews on Amazon.com gave the books five out of five stars.
"Mandy's been through this book several times, but then she got in front of her classmates, [and] would lead the class along with me reading it … It was very exciting for the both of us."
The problem with the traditional teaching model in Chinese schools is that there's no "positive reinforcement or incentive to learning," Lin said. Curriculum is instead taught in a rigorous, methodical, non-interactive way reminiscent of the old country, he said.
To bridge the gap, Lin and Mandy's Chinese teacher, Jing, created audio CDs that accompany each book. Jingles and rhythmic clapping help guide the child through the CD, thereby learning pronunciation of the Chinese words.
"Some kids will listen to the CD four times in a day," Lin said. "That's how excited they get learning it and challenging themselves with it."
The Mandy and Pandy series aims to help young children associate learning Chinese with fun at an age when their minds are like sponges. "Early on is when you want to give them two, three or even five language, then they're prepared and they can see which ones they like," Lin said.
Only two books are out in bookstores so far, but already they have won an iParenting Media Award, whose reviewers consist of parents and licensed child education experts across the nation.
Lin and his ever-growing team plan to roll out 24 books over the next five years, and create videos and activity books for the series.
The books are available at Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, and the Mandy and Pandy web site, www.mandyandpandy.com.
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