story time – Beijing Kids

We Create Our Own Miracles Through Blood Donation

XueFei Liu — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 01:00:25 +0000

On Jun 23, Sophie – a teacher from New Zealand – suffered a severe heart attack and was in a coma for six days. By Jul 7, she desperately needed heart surgery but was faced with complications given her rare AB- blood type. Sophie’s family quickly moved mountains and oceans to get a donor for her, and fortunately, she was able to receive enough blood for all three of her operations.

The blood type that Sophie has is also known as “panda blood” and is extremely rare in China, with roughly 0.1 percent of Asia’s population having this blood type. In fact, of the eight different blood types in the world, positives are most common, while negatives are rarer.

Luckily, having AB- blood doesn’t mean you only receive blood from AB- donors, and there are various other types that are compatible. Nevertheless, Sophie’s family’s search took them well outside their friends in Beijing, and they looked as far as Heilongjiang Province and Xizang Province just to find someone bearing either the AB-, A-, B-, or O- blood type.

“I cried when I saw how many people read and shared,” Sophie says.

The ordeal certainly captured the sheer support and love within the capital’s expat community. Simply put, Beijing’s expat community is like a big family that you can always count on to have your back. Whether it be restaurant recommendations, travel tips, or a life-threatening illness, there’s no shortage of help, no matter how big or small the situation is.

Although Beijing is a foreign country for Sophie and her family, they were able to find solace and aid in its expat community. Frankly, moving to Beijing and being away from loved ones is, in no uncertain terms, an arduous task, however, there are always people who will be more than happy to help you thrive while you are here. All the anxiety of settling in a new place disappears – more or less – and your family back home can rest easy knowing that you’re in the loving hands of an international community that cares.

We’re glad that Sophie is feeling better and is on her way to a swift recovery. And for those of you that are planning on moving to Beijing, know that you are welcome, and the expat community can’t wait to welcome you into the family.

KEEP READING: Fun Blood Drive for the Whole Family! Yes, There is Such a Thing

Images: Unsplash, XueFei Liu, MyOASIS 北京明德医院

A Magical Paintbrush at Bookworm

Pauline — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 02:00:04 +0000

My daughter and I went to a book reading this Saturday at The Bookworm. The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson captured my attention as we have a copy at home. One of my dearest mommy friends gave it to our family as a farewell gift when we left London to move to Beijing. We met on a bus in London when her first daughter was only three weeks old. Since that moment, we braved many story times in the libraries around east London. I was happy to find a bit of this magic back in Beijing at The Bookworm.

The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson is about a girl who finds a magic paintbrush and the adventures that follow are both magical and an ethical lesson for children. The kids were all listening and en enraptured by our story teller, Karin Markowski, a teacher at the Pakistan embassy college. She had a little riddle for the kids, of course some painting after the story telling, and hot chocolate and cookies followed after.

This morning proved story telling is still a great way of spending time together, in a magical environment where books line the walls. The Bookworm makes it a bit easier for parents with coffee and breakfast. I would not mind spending every Saturday morning at The Bookworm with a latte.

While there, I found out what else was going on at The Bookworm. They will host a flea market this Saturday November 26 from 12pm till 6pm on their rooftop terrace. The following Saturday, December 3 Karin Markowski will resume her story telling with another favorite by Julia Donaldson, Stick Man. Be sure to brings some sticks to create your own stick man after the story.

Find more information about The Bookworm here:

http://www.chinabookworm.com/

Pauline van Hasselt has just started working for beijingkids. Born in Wassenaar, The Netherlands, she moved with her husband and her 3 year-old daughter to Beijing in June of this year. Prior she lived in the Netherlands, Belgium, Paraguay, Texas, and London, studying and working as a chef. Pauline enjoys biking around Beijing, finding markets and new restaurants, reading crime and fantasy books in bed, and most importantly, turning her house into a home for her family.

Building Your Baby’s Library with These Timeless Books (Part 2)

Nimo_Wanjau

In the first part of this series, we looked at classic bedtime books to help build your baby’s library or that of a loved one. The baby books chosen have withstood the test of time and are still loved by many. These books can be found in douban.com under the books section with the only drawback being that the site is in Chinese. But searching for the titles in English will still yield the book results. Here is a look at another five classic books.

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Poor Corduroy! Why won’t anyone buy him? Could it be because his overalls are missing a button? Late at night the teddy bear searches the store for his button. He never finds it, but he does find a girl who loves him and gives him a home.

Heartwarming and humorous, this is a picture-book classic. The illustrations are bold, bright, and highly appealing. The story speaks to many themes, including friendship, courage, and hope.

Review sourced from Common Sense Media

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow

This book is a fun, amusing story about the bedtime rituals of five monkeys and their mama. The monkeys diligently complete ordinary bedtime tasks such as taking a bath, brushing their teeth and putting on their pajamas. At this point, one may be led to believe that the “obedient” monkeys are ready to go to sleep, but these five little monkeys have plans of their own.

As their mama shuts their bedroom door, the silly monkeys start jumping on their bed. Wouldn’t you know it – one monkey falls down and bumps his head. Mama is forced to call the doctor, who instructs the monkeys, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed.” Will the remaining monkeys listen to the doctor’s order? The catchy tale repeats itself as the number of monkeys left in bed dwindles and the doctors orders become more adamant: “NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED.” Before you know it, all five monkeys are injured, and they finally decide to settle down for the evening. Now mama can finally go to sleep herself…or perhaps, she decides, have some fun of her own.

Adults and children alike will look forward to reading this board book over and over again. The illustrations brilliantly bring the story to life. The expressions on the monkeys’ faces make readers laugh out loud as they change from innocent to silly and mischievous. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself joining in on the fun by jumping on your own bed. The one thing this book is missing is a warning: This book will not encourage children to settle down for bedtime!

Review sourced from Curled Up With a Good Kids Book

Gossie byOlivier Dunrea

Gossie is a little golden yellow gosling who “likes to wear bright red boots.” Gossie loves her boots so much that she wears them all the time. Whether she is eating, sleeping, playing, or walking, Gossie always wears her beloved boots.

Then, one morning, she wakes up to discover that her boots are missing. They are not under the hens, or in the barn, or under her bed. They are nowhere to be found and Gossie is quite “heartbroken” at her loss. Then she sees something quite extraordinary and Gossie’s world changes a great deal – for the better.

There is no doubt that Gossie the gosling is one of the funniest and sweetest bird characters around. Even though she is very small, Olivier Dunrea manages to give Gossie a surprising amount of character and expression. With minimal backgrounds and delicate touches of color and detail, Olivier Dunrea puts his wonderful gosling in the limelight – which is just where she should be.

Little children will grow to love this little bird, and will certainly want to read more of her books in the future.

Review sourced from Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews

In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming

If you were a fuzzy caterpillar crawling through the tall, tall grass on a sunny afternoon, what would you see? Beginning, as the sun is high in the sky and ending as fireflies blink and the moon rises above, this backyard tour is one no child will want to miss.

Singling out the "array of vibrant verbs and boisterous onomatopeia" and the "kaleidoscope effect" of the textured paper collages, PW called Caldecott Honor artist Fleming’s caterpillar safari "ideal for sharing with young explorers."

Description and editorial review sourced from amazon

Are You My Mother? By P.D. Eastman

I want my mother! Will the gritty determination of a very tiny bird win the day? Readers love the suspense and the hilarious conclusion, as a newly hatched baby bird begins a quest to find his mother. Uproarious illustrations complement the comical tale, providing giggles galore for young readers.

Parents need to know that readers eagerly anticipate the baby bird’s next move. Basic language and humorous illustrations keep the tale’s tone light.

Description and review sourced from Common Sense Media

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons

Telling a Story with an App

Sisi_Chen

Tired of reciting the same old bedtime stories? Let your kids create their own!

With the Toontastic iPad app, children can use their imagination to create their own story with cartoon scenes, music and characters.

Kids learn about the five aspects of a story arc, choosing to work first on the setup, the conflict, the challenge, the climax, or the resolution. Next, kids can pick the setting of their story, be it a pirate ship or magic castle. Users can also imagine their own zany characters or adventurous settings using the illustration tools.

When animating the scenes, narrators can record their voice and make their characters come to life on screen. The scene is completed once background music is added. Once the story is done, it can be shared online with friends.

To start your own story, click here. The app itself is free of charge, but there are add-ons: sets of additional scenes and characters (USD 1).

Happy storytelling!

For more of 2011’s best iPad apps (geared towards adults), as recommended by The New York Times, click here.

Educational Apps – Reading is Still Fundamental

christopherlay

The holidays are barely over and Chinese New Year is around the corner, so I thought it would be a good time to introduce some of the latest discoveries in the literary iPhone and iPad app department. Though there is no particular order to these apps – no top 10 lists here – I do have a favorite in this bunch that will become blatantly obvious.

First up are two of the many titles brought to the i-scene (I’m copyrighting that) by PicPocket Books. Round is a Mooncake – A Book of Shapes, written by Roseanne Thong and illustrated by Grace Lin, is great for teaching shapes within the context of the Chinese culture. Squares, circles and rectangles are brought to life with a name chop, traditional snacks, lanterns, an abacus and sacks of rice. Aside from being a clever book, the story is narrated by a young girl who does a splendid job. As with all PicPocket Books, the audio can be switched off so that you or your child can read the story and the pages turn with a flick of your finger.

Another fantastic title from PicPocket is A My Name Is Andrew, written by Mary McManus Burke and illustrated by Donna Ngemanson. This is a cute alphabet book, but a great vocabulary builder that your children will enjoy long after having mastered the ABCs. Each letter is described by a child whose name begins with the same letter who then tells about where they are from using a plethora of words beginning with that letter. So Ernrica from El Paso encourages her enthusiastic elephant to engage in energetic, exhilarating exercise early each morning. And I actually shortened that sentence!

Gray Kitty Goes to School by Susan D. Tiner and Martin D. Partlan is one of three titles that Tiner Financial Services has on offer at the iTunes store for free. The simple storyline and the use of cats, dogs and kittens for the characters, make this a nice story for 2-3 year-olds and I rather like that the teacher, Mrs. Rat, is – you guessed it – a rat. The interface is not the sleekest on the e-bookshelf, but the text and audio can be in English or Spanish and you cannot complain about the price.

Story Boy is another app developer with a lot of titles on offer. The Little Blue Robot, written by Joanna Emmanuel and illustrated by Evan Toh is the story of a robot in search of his role in a factory full of other colorful robots with their own unique jobs. Story Boy offers auto read or manual page turning and like many of their titles, there is a nice lesson to be gained from reading the story.

All About Dragons, written by Anthea Chuah and illustrated by Nicola Hwang is another Story Boy title that will enthrall young readers, especially if they like dragons. Interesting facts, trivia and secrets are to be discovered on many of the interactive pages and I even found myself discovering new things about these winged magical beasts that I had never known.

Finally, and hands down the current favorite in our household, is My Wagon and I, written by Hoa Vu, illustrated by Annabella Goh and narrated to perfection by Tyler Vu whom I assume is the author’s son. This delightful Story Boy tale is made infinitely more enjoyable by Tyler’s little voice rising and falling with each syllable he pronounces. I have shared this short story book with several other families and it always leaves a smile on everyone’s face. Just buy it, you’ll be glad you did.