Having been born, raised and lived in the Greater Toronto Area all my life, I am privileged to have been surrounded by diversity and multiculturalism. This is one of the biggest reasons why I do not see myself ever living anywhere else!

Faye has also lived in a multicultural city all her life, until she and her family moved to a small town, in FAYE’S LANTERNS (written by Eve Gane and Tony Tang, illustrated by Hyesoo Kim, published by Plumleaf Press). There are many things about her new home that she loves, but she misses her friends and her old home back in the big city. In her new home, it is a struggle to find the foods her family is used to eating, and even finding books in the library that reflect her Chinese heritage is difficult. But more than anything, she misses her nai nai (paternal grandmother). Dad comforts her by telling her his experience of when he first moved to Canada from China, and how Nai Nai encouraged him to take risks and try new things, like playing hockey with the neighbourhood kids. Soon after, Faye receives a special package from Nai Nai, just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. How will this help her discover how to find her place in her new home?

The feeling of excitement of seeing my own cultural identity positively represented in beautiful books like FAYE’S LANTERNS will never get old! Even more exciting is seeing the second- generation Chinese-Canadian identity represented in children’s books. Any child of immigrant parents will likely understand how complex and challenging it can be to navigate both our parents’ heritage while balancing fitting in with the dominant Canadian culture. FAYE’S LANTERNS does a fantastic job with this, while also addressing the struggles of moving from a big, diverse urban city to a small, rural town.

FAYE’S LANTERNS is available now! Much thanks to Plumleaf Press for sending me a copy of this book! Choice to review and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Elsielyn Ng, The Inclusive Bookshelf