New Date! MOCAKIDS AAPI Heritage Month Author Meet & Greet with Qing Zhuang
May 18, 2024, 3:00 pm – 3:45 pm
What sights, sounds, and flavors remind you of Chinatown? Join MOCA and author/illustrator Qing Zhuang for a MOCAKIDS Author Meet & Greet that is sure to awaken your senses! Follow along as Qing reads her book Rainbow Shopping, a loving tribute to the places that make Chinatown special. Together, we’ll use our imaginations to weave through the bustling aisles of a Chinatown market and join a family as they prepare a heartwarming meal. After the reading, we’ll be making our very own vegetable prints inspired by the fresh bounty of Chinatown’s markets.
Best for children ages 4-8. Older and younger siblings are welcome. Book signing and purchase will follow the reading!
This event is free to the public. Reservations are encouraged, but not required.
About the Book
On a rainy Saturday, a young girl feels as gray as a pigeon. Since moving from China to New York City, Mom, Dad, and Grandma have been very busy working. But a trip to Mom’s favorite Chinatown store to find the best produce, seafood, and spices for dinner just might turn the girl’s day around.
Later on, Dad steams, boils, fries, and stir-fries all the ingredients while girl and Grandma taste-test. After cozy goodnights, a final dream spread shows the family walking hand-in-hand in rainbow colors–an affirmation of love and support even on rainy, gray days.
Inspired by Qing Zhuang’s experience as a first generation Chinese American, Rainbow Shopping explores a young child’s feelings of loneliness and discovery with tenderness and humor. Qing uses watercolor, colored pencil, and crayon to beautifully recreate NYC’s Chinatown neighborhood. Filled with warmth and details of city life, this story about a working-class family is one readers can return to again and again.
Rainbow Shopping was recently included in NPR’s Books We Love List, as well as NYPL’s Best Books of the Year.
About the Author/Illustrator
Qing Zhuang has always wanted to be an artist of one kind or another. Born in Fuzhou City, China, Qing moved to New York City when she was seven years old. Like many immigrants and children of immigrants, Qing tried very hard to fit in and embody both cultures. However, the world of books and art is where Qing totally and naturally feels like herself. On most days, when not drawing, you will find Qing getting messy making art with children as an elementary school art teacher and enjoying all the new children’s books in the library. She lives with her wonderful husband in Queens, New York.
About the Publisher
Since its beginnings in 1935 as the first American publishing house founded with the purpose of publishing only children’s books, Holiday House has been proud to gather together talented authors and illustrators and to publish quality books that entertain, enlighten, and educate children. Holiday House is known for publishing timeless and award-winning books for children and young adult readers.
Buy the Book!
Rainbow Shopping will be available for purchase and signing during the event! It is also available at Yue & Me Books, Barnes and Noble, and booksellers near you. Rainbow Shopping is perfect for young readers ages 4-8.
MOCAKIDS Meet & Greets are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts under Governor Kathy Hochuls’s Regional Economic Development Council Initiative.