Mama's Home in Taiwan: A Bilingual Children’s Book Written in Traditional Chinese, Zhuyin, Pinyin and English

The book is very well written and illustrated! I was super impressed with the inclusion of both pinyin and zhuyin. Reading this to my daughter definitely makes me homesick!

This is a very authentic Taiwanese American story! Even the pictures from the book, it’s right to the point!

Nice book helps kids to remember the trip in TaiwanGood for Mandarin learner

Great book helps kids to know more about Taiwan!!!

Actually love the fact that text is simple and straightforward, so my kids can practice reading in English, zhuying, pinyin, and Chinese.

Mama’s Home in Taiwan is a salute to Taiwan living that takes you there for a visit with the kid whose “mama” came from there.This book is lovingly illustrated by the author Chris Huang and I, whose parents came from Taiwan too, can transport myself back to Taiwan in many instances just by looking at those illustrations. Taipei 101, the night market, the indigenous people. But when I read the words (English and Chinese), I don’t get the same feeling. I don’t sense the excitement of visiting Taiwan that should be evident from the pictures. The fact that both text and pictures were provided by the same person baffles me even more. My wife who is Taiwan-born also feels the same disconnect and was disappointed at the lack of energy since she had bought this book for our kids.The text mostly reads like a roadmap. Went here, went there. Did this, did that. Only in a couple of instances do I feel that what the narrator talks about is cool and fun, like how LuRouFan makes you want to eat more (though there’s no textual explanation of what it is like “aka braised pork rice”) and the comment on the amount of stuff you take back is more than you bring. The convenient convenience store line is also fun. Reading the text also brings up some missed opportunities in the illustrations. Like the MRT was only a faraway line in the picture though the narrator said they took that transport system to the Taipei 101, and since I personally think it’s a proud example of Taipei infrastructure engineering, I find it disappointing not to see it spotlighted. So maybe having the left hand page show the MRT coming into the station and phasing to the Taipei 101 on the right hand page could be a way to do that.A change in writing style would be nice. Add more flavor text maybe. So instead of “we went to the Taipei 101”, say “I love the Taipei 101 for its view and the eateries in its mall.” Chris Huang didn’t need to say where the narrator’s feet went, but show where they stopped at and say why. She got the pictures most of the way there, but the text really needs to support the pictures too, not the other way around.There’s also a set of puzzling bookend pages that aren’t essential to the narrative but are good touches, if done right. Unfortunately, they just turn out to be slightly confusing and non-inclusive.The first page introduces the narrator as a child born and living in America. Only the picture tells us that they are most likely a boy. Plus they use the terms “ABC” and “ABT”. People in the know would immediately understand that ABC means “American-Born Chinese”, but otherwise, there is no introduction or explanation of the acronyms used. What I’m thinking is that Chris Huang was trying to make a point of saying that a person from Taiwan should not be called Chinese but Taiwanese. But that first page did not even mention Taiwan. English readers may not be acquainted with Chinese and/or Taiwanese culture and thus would be left in the dark.The last page has a group picture with the family members waving Taiwan flags with the narrator saying “I like Mama’s home! I love Taiwan!” The previous page already says “I enjoy every trip to Taiwan!” So reading this right after connects but coupled with the picture seems slightly overkill and borders on insulting the narrator’s home country, the USA.If the narrator was born in the USA, then why would they be waving the Taiwan flag and saying they love Taiwan? We of Chinese ancestry (people of Chinese cultural background) collectively known in the Chinese Mandarin dialect as huaren are already getting hate from US non-Asians shouting “Go back to China!” Those huaren who come from Taiwan may take offense at the wrong choice of country but the sentiment needs to be recognized: We are being called out on our loyalty to our country. Pages like this do not help our situation.Instead, what I think Chris Huang should have done is to lead in with a better explanation like “Hi, my name is so-and-so and I was born and raised in the United States of America. Though I have been called ABC meaning American-Born Chinese, I am more correctly known as ABT or American-Born Taiwanese. Why is that? Well…” And then instead of that current last page, show the narrator holding an American flag instead of the Taiwan flag in the group and saying “I love my Taiwan family. But it’s also good to be going home to the US. I can’t wait to tell all my friends about my trip. Wait, I just did! Hope you enjoyed it!”These changes I think would make any reader feel included in the narrative and not feel lost or maybe even ignored.This book is marketed as if it were for people of various Chinese proficiencies, meaning people who don’t know Chinese and need to read English, fluent Chinese readers, and the people in between who need assistance, thus the inclusion of both zhuyin and pinyin. Yet the content makes me feel that the target audience is actually just for Taiwan natives.When you support different language proficiencies, I think you should also support different cultural backgrounds, especially when you include English.Plus, pinyin originates from mainland China post World War II so that means people who read pinyin are often from the mainland and thus may not take kindly to the Taiwan flag waving on the last page. But my text suggestion should alleviate the political side and focus on the fact it’s a trip, not a rally.I personally feel that the author Chris Huang should have gotten better consulting and copy editing with maybe test reads from various readers of different backgrounds to make this book and Taiwan really shine and connect to more people.Overall, Mama’s Home in Taiwan is a good attempt at bringing Taiwan to the reader. It would succeed in making a Taiwan native reminisce and wax nostalgic for home. But the disconnected energy between text and pictures and the confusing lead-in and non-inclusive exit just make it a hard book for me to recommend for a non-Taiwan person to read.

It was shocking when we open the book. The pages are horrible pictures. I thinks the inner pages are misplaced.

Since the Covid, we can’t go back to Taiwan for so long. I read this to my daughter everyday and she loves it! The art is very attractive! And my husband (English speaker) also able to read it to her.