Please welcome my friend Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett! Her fabulous site, Miss Panda Chinese, has playful and engaging Chinese language programs for early childhood education organizations and elementary schools.
She is also the host of Playful Chinese podcast.
Her “Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” album has been introducing Mandarin Chinese to families that are new to the Chinese language.
We are giving away two signed books, one for each version! To enter, please go to the Rafflecopter at the bottom.
First Mandarin Sounds: an awesome word book (English, Traditional Chinese, and Pinyin version) and First Mandarin Sounds: an awesome word book (English, Simplified Chinese, and Pinyin version)
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The excitement of exposing Mandarin Chinese to children has been made possible and simple with more bilingual English-Chinese picture books published in recent years. It is wonderful to see a growing number of Chinese and Chinese American authors, illustrators, and publishers proactively creating these multilingual books. They are great resources for families and teachers who want to connect kids with one of the most spoken world languages or with their heritage culture.
Many of these authors and illustrators are parents or educators with Chinese heritage and they want to pass on the richness of the Chinese language and culture to the younger generation in our growing diverse society. The books they have created are not in the textbook format but with appealing storytelling and a playful style.
In the list below I have included picture books featuring Chinese words and sounds that are published between 2020 and 2017.
Note: There are two Chinese writing systems: Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. Traditional Chinese is used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Simplified Chinese is used in China and Singapore. Many children’s books will identify which Chinese writing system they use in the book.
9 Picture Books with Chinese Words
First Mandarin Sounds: An Awesome Chinese Word Book (written in Simplified Chinese, Pinyin, and English) A Children’s Bilingual Book
by Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, illustrated by Yu-Wen Wang
Learning while reading, playing, and listening is the key concept of First Mandarin Sounds: an awesome Chinese word book. This book guides readers to acquire essential Mandarin sounds through playful words. Words have meanings. Words build stories. Learning fun Chinese words is a step toward building early literacy in Chinese. Each word is written in English, Chinese characters, and Pinyin with online audio support. Both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese versions are available. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
My First Book of Chinese Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Chinese Language and Culture 
by Faye-Lynn Wu and Aya Padron
This is a unique Chinese word book with a beautiful touch of Chinese culture organized with the ABC structure. Each Chinese word is presented in both traditional and simplified Chinese characters as well as pinyin. The English section flows in rhyming and elaborates on the meaning of the Chinese word with cultural annotation. The illustration is charming. This book is a great resource to introduce the Chinese language and culture to young readers. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
My First Mandarin Words with Gordon & Li Li
by Michele Wong McSween, illustrated by Nam Doan
Here you will learn counting, animals, and everyday words in English and Chinese with Gordon and Li Li. The two pandas are cousins. One is from China, and the other is from New York. They are learning each other’s language together. I first read the original three books a few years ago and found them simple enough for non-native parents to share Chinese words with young readers. English, Simplified Chinese characters, Pinyin, and a pronunciation guide are listed for each word. This new edition has all three original books in one. [picture book, ages 0 and up]
First Words in Chinese: (Bilingual English and Mandarin Chinese books for kids)
by Jane C Thai
From numbers, colors, animals, and clothing to food items this wordbook focuses on vocabulary building. It is arranged by thirteen groups of words that young readers will have fun identifying at home or while out and about. English, Simplified Chinese, and pinyin are displayed for each word. Audio recordings are available online. [picture book, ages 1 and up]
Mandarin Chinese Picture Dictionary: Learn 1,500 Key Chinese Words and Phrases by Yi Ren
Here is a handy resource book for home and the classroom. Thirty-seven topics in this picture dictionary include words for everyday and specific real-life situations, such as going to the doctor, mobile devices, and culture just to name a few. Words are listed in English, Simplified Chinese, and Pinyin with online audio. [picture dictionary, all ages].
12 Lucky Animals: A Bilingual Baby Book
by Vickie Lee, illustrated by Joey Chou
Get to know the lucky animals used for the Chinese lunar calendar! This English-Chinese bilingual board book introduces the twelve animals by order and shares each of their characteristics. The playful illustrations add joy to the reading. Is your dragon baby independent? Does your ox baby love to eat snacks? This book will surely make you smile. Animal words are in English, Simplified Chinese, and Pinyin, with a pronunciation guide. [picture book, ages 0 and up]
My First Everyday Words in Cantonese and English
by Karen Yee
The Chinese edition is also available.
This book is written in traditional Chinese characters with a Cantonese word and sentence structure. It’s a resource for the Cantonese language. This book has more than just vocabulary. It includes ten simple sentence patterns that go with the words listed in ten topics such as daily routines, preferences, action words, and the names of Dim Sum dishes. This book is written in English, Traditional Chinese, and Jyutping (Cantonese pronunciation guide). [picture book, ages 0 and up]
First Words – Mandarin: 100 Mandarin words to learn
by Lonely Planet Kids, Andy Mansfield
It’s a word book for kids and families to prepare for their trip to Chinese-speaking destinations. There are fun words kids can use to describe what they will see, where they will explore, and what they might want to eat and pack in the book with vibrant illustrations. Each word is in English, Simplified Chinese, Pinyin, and a pronunciation guide. Audio recording is available online. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
2 Signed Books of First Mandarin Sounds GIVEAWAY!
We are giving away two signed books, one for each version! To enter, please go to the Rafflecopter below.
First Mandarin Sounds: an awesome word book (English, Traditional Chinese, and Pinyin version) and First Mandarin Sounds: an awesome word book (English, Simplified Chinese, and Pinyin version)
Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett is the founder of Miss Panda Chinese and the host of the Playful Chinese podcast. She has taught ESL and the Chinese language to heritage and non-native speakers on four continents for over twenty years. Amanda is the Chinese language consultant for Word Party Season 4 on Netflix. She was a former executive at Warner Bros.
Her audio streaming album, “Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” has guided thousands of parents and kids to play in Mandarin and learn everyday Chinese. Amanda is passionate about bilingual education and cross-cultural communications. She grew up in Taiwan with parents from mainland China. She is also a parent who is raising two bilingual children. To learn more, please visit her website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
I’m actually leaning Japanese right now and haven’t started Chinese. These books look like the perfect place to start.
These books would be perfect for my Bilingual students! Thanks for the chance!
I would even love to learn some Mandarin! Love this.
I couldn’t find the rafflecopter. Is the contest over? I have two kids who started mandarin last year but only had a few lessons. These books would be great. Thank you!
My granddaughters don’t have books yet. I like to get books for them that teach them about different languages.
I would love to learn some Mandarin! So would my kids.
I’m trying to incorporate more dual language books in my library’s collection – 12 Lucky Animals has never stayed on the shelf for very long! The First Mandarin Sounds in both Traditional and Simplified would be fantastic adds (and would make my library’s financial manager very happy – she’s been teaching me the sounds and tones). Thank you for the opportunity!
What a wonderful collection to add some Mandarin into our lives!