Highland Park Elementary English Language Learners (ELL) teacher Leah Kitamura and Grade 5 international student Addison recommend The Lost Dumpling and Be You, Mandu! by Kirstin Hepburn.
May is Asian Heritage Month, and at Highland Park Elementary, we are exploring some noteworthy Canadians with Asian heritage. One local role model is Gina Chong, who started the annual BC Dumpling Festival that takes place every summer at Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam. She was inspired to create the festival to celebrate our diverse community and bring together families, friends, and neighbours from various cultures to share food, entertainment and laughter.
At Highland Park Elementary, we are having our third annual World Culture Day on May 24, 2024. It’s a celebration of cultural diversity with songs, speeches, and interactive language activities, and this year, we will also be offering a dumpling tasting! This makes Kirstin Hepburn’s dumpling series (The Lost Dumpling and Be You, Mandu!) the perfect books to read, with its diverse group of characters represented by dumpling foods from across the world.
One of my students, Addison H., likes the cute characters and the book’s message of being proud of yourself and who you are.
“I think with these books, we can learn about other cultures and their traditions around food,” she said. “I also want other people to know about Korean culture.”
Addison is looking forward to celebrating World Culture Day.
The Lost Dumpling is available in SD42 libraries. Please check with your ELL teacher or teacher-librarian if you’d like to borrow a copy of the second book, Be You, Mandu!
