Exploring Vietnam

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

May is Asian/Pacific Islander-American Heritage Month. Last May I focused on Japan and I thought this year I might try to do that with Vietnam, but as I looked at my resources this year I decided I would do one post on Vietnam and posts about other Asian and Pacific Island countries. Today we will focus on Vietnam and I will share two books--a cookbook and a picture dictionary. At the end I will share a round-up of some activities and books on the topic of Vietnam and the culture.

All About Vietnam -- Book Review & More!

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month. All month long I will try to share books, crafts, and activities to help celebrate this fun heritage. Today I get to share the newest book from one of my favorite series about Asian countries. It is All About Vietnam: Projects & Activities for Kids: Learn About Vietnamese Culture with Stories, Songs, Crafts & Games by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc and illustrated by Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong. It is a middle grades reading level but can be shared with younger kids if you do the reading!

Multicultural Books focusing on Asia and Asian American Cultures

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We are continuing our book roundups as the holidays get closer and closer. Today we are sharing some multicultural books with an Asian theme. The books include a picture book, a book of folk tales and a picture dictionary. These are perfect for classrooms, libraries as well as families. We will start with the picture book. It is We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court by Mia Wenjen and illustrated by Victor Bizar Gomez. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12. 

Around the World In 12 Dishes: Vietnam Part 2: Grilled Lemon Grass Beef

We made one more Vietnamese dish last week. This one needed to marinate for at least four hours, so we did it on a different day. I found the recipe in Cooking the Vietnamese Way by Chi Nguyen and Judy Monroe.

Hazel helped me make the marinade and soak the skewers. First we had fun with the lemon grass sticks though. We played air drums with them.

We pretended they were rhythm sticks.

And we gave ourselves bunny ears.

Then it was on to cutting, measuring and mixing. The recipe called for two lemon grass sticks. I don't know if mine were too big or what, but it was definitely too much. The marinade was overtaken by the lemon grass. I put the lemon grass and garlic into the food processor to get them small enough.

Grilled Lemon Grass Beef or Bo Nuong Xa adapted from Cooking the Vietnamese Way

1 1/2 lb. sirloin tip, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 stems lemon grass, finely chopped (I would only use one next time)
Bamboo Skewers
Optional: 2 teaspoons chopped scallions or fresh mint for garnish

1) Mix the sirloin, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, garlic, sesame seeds, and lemon grass together. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

2) Soak the bamboo skewers in water while the meat marinates.

3) Preheat oven to broil or start grill. 

4) Thread beef slices onto skewers accordion-style. Broil or grill for 6 to 8 minutes, turning often so they are cooked evenly.

5) Serve hot and garnish with mint and/or scallions.

Steve and I liked it. Steve really seemed to like it. Hazel thought it was all right, but I think she would have liked it with less lemon grass.

Around the World in 12 Dishes is hosted by these lovely blogs:

Adventures In Mommydom, Afterschool for Smarty Pants, All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Glittering Muffins, Kid World Citizen, Mermaids' Makings, The Mommy Talks and The Usual Mayhem

I hope you will take the time to check them all out and check out everyone's great explorations of Vietnam. If you have a Vietnamese dish or craft or lesson, please share it here as well!! The Vietnamese placemat and passport pages are coming soon for help with extra learning about the country.

For more posts about Vietnam check out:

Lunar New Year and The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Cinderella, and Beef Pho and Banana Coconut Che

Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories Book Review

 Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Hazel loves exploring the world. She loves learning about different cultures. Since her father does not like to travel or spend the money to travel, we explore from home. We try recipes from other countries, listen to music from other countries, read books about other countries and we love to read stories from other countries. Tuttle Publishing sent us Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories retold by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran and illustrated by Nguyen Dong and Nguyen Thi Hop.

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Vietnam: Beef Pho and Banana Coconut Che

Have you entered the amazing giveaway for Hispanic Heritage Month yet?

This month we are exploring Vietnam with Around the World in 12 Dishes. Since I wrote the introduction post on the Around the World in 12 Dishes blog, I will not repeat myself here. However the past few days I have been thinking about what I really want Hazel to get out of these experiences. I review many multicultural books, participate in multicultural blog hops for the various heritage months and cook a dish from a different country each month. Hazel is five and a half. She is not ready for the capitals and history of the countries. She is not ready to hear about the governments and how they differ from ours. She barely understands what we tell her about ours. I want her to learn about other cultures now so it is ingrained in her throughout her life that people live in different ways, but that is all right. It is all right to be different and we are still all humans and should be treated with respect. Learning about another culture and how others live helps us understand one another and helps build that respect for others. This is why I focus so much on other cultures, countries, etc. This is why I try to find many books to share stories as well as some non-fiction ones to show her pictures of the countries. We may not travel much or far, but she will know something about the greater world out there from what we do at home. Now onto our Vietnam experience. Some of the books I found most helpful in sharing Vietnam with Hazel are the following.

I love reading her some of the legends and folktales as well as some books to give her an idea of what life is like there. For example we found out that many Vietnamese families in the cities buy their breakfast which is often soup like the one we made. They buy it since it takes so long to make and there is not enough time in the morning.

We decided to make Beef Pho and Banana Coconut Che. This was our Vietnamese dinner the other night. For the most part everyone liked both. We found the soup to be a bit bland and Hazel decided she liked fresh bananas better than the che.

Beef Pho or Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup adapted from A Kid's Guide to Asian American History

1 cup bean sprouts

1 bunch fresh basil leaves

3 scallions

8 ounces banh ho, rice sticks

1/2 inch slice peeled fresh ginger

1 pound eye round beef roast -- we used the beef already sliced for a stir fry

2 tablespoons oil

1 package of pho and 10 cups of water or 5 cups of low-sodium beef broth and 5 cups of water -- we used 8 cups of beef broth and 2 cups of water

Optional: Vietnamese fish sauce (we did not use this since I couldn't find any)

1) Place the banh ho in a pot of water to soften for 10 minutes.

2) Rinse the bean sprouts in a colander and set aside in a bowl.

2) Rinse the basil leaves and set aside. I actually found it was better to chop them a bit.

3) Rinse and chop the scallion into small pieces and place in a bowl.

4) Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the noodles and cook for 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set a side.

5) Chop the ginger into very small pieces. 

6) Slice the beef into very thin slices (or cut smaller if using presliced like us--I waited until after we cooked it to slice it.)

7) Heat oil in a frying pan. Cook the ginger and beef in the oil for about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and place in bowl.

8) Heat beef broth and water to a boil in pot. (If using pho mix, stir it in after water boils.) 

9) Remove from heat and stir in bean sprouts, noodles and beef. I added the toppings of basil and scallions now as well instead of just topping bowls. I found the broth really needed some more flavor.

10) Enjoy!

Hazel loved cooking the ginger and meat!! She also asked to add the basil.

For dessert we had banana coconut che. Foods of Vietnam by Barbara Sheen describes che as somewhat thinner than soft ice cream and a thick liquid that can almost be sipped through a straw. It is sold in shops, markets and street vendors and can come in many different flavors.

Banana Coconut Che adapted from Foods of Vietnam

3 tablespoons tapioca pearls -- we used powder since we already had it

3 cups of water

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup coconut milk

pinch of salt

1 lb. bananas cut into thin, round slices (this was about 2 large bananas)

1) Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the tapioca and stir well. I used a whisk since we were using the powder. The tapioca will stick together. Cook until it thickens, about 10 minutes.

2) Mix the coconut milk, sugar and salt together in a separate bowl. This is also when we sliced the bananas.

3) Stir the coconut milk mixture into the tapioca mixture. Cook until the sugar dissolves. Add the banana slices and cook 3 minutes.

4) Let che cool to room temperature. Serve in individual bowls or glasses and top with crushed ice. We did not top it with ice.

Steve had several helpings and really liked it. Hazel only thought it was ok. That is our Vietnamese experience so far. Around the World in 12 Dishes is hosted by these lovely blogs:

Adventures In Mommydom, Afterschool for Smarty Pants, All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Glittering Muffins, Kid World Citizen, Mermaids' Makings, The Mommy Talks and The Usual Mayhem

I hope you will take the time to check them all out and check out everyone's great explorations of Vietnam. If you have a Saudi dish or craft or lesson, please share it here as well!! The Vietnamese placemat and passport pages are coming soon for help with extra learning about the country.

For more posts about Vietnam check out:

Lunar New Year and The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Cinderella.

Books to Teach Culture and More to the Young

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing sent me these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am sharing some of my favorite books to teach about Asian culture and countries. These books work for younger kids and also help teach ABC's. They are a series of ABC rhyming books about Asian languages and culture. Each book has information about how certain letters in the language are pronounced. 

Lunar New Year and Year of the Horse Book Review

Disclosure: I was sent these books digitally to review free of charge from Immedium. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Although we celebrate our New Year on January 1st, there are many places around the world that celebrate the new year at a different time (and some celebrate it at two times January 1st and a cultural traditional time). Friday, January 31st is the lunar new year. Now some cultures that celebrate the lunar new year are the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Mongolian. The Chinese are the largest group that celebrate it and is the one we hear about most often.


China

Source

 Now China is the largest celebrated lunar new year. Traditionally the celebration of the lunar new year lasted fifteen days. Now in modern times it is usually two or three days. The days leading up to the new year are important in China. The Chinese clean their houses from top to bottom prior to the new year and never on New Year's Day in fear that good fortune will be swept away. They pay off their debts, buy new clothes and shoes to wear on the first day of the year (it is considered lucky to wear all new clothing on the first day of the year since wearing old clothes brings bad luck in the year to come) and have their hair cut. As the old year ends people focus on their mistakes and failures and think about how to act better in the new year. Oranges and tangerines are traditional gifts for friends and family. They are also a favorite offering to the ancestors. Tangerines still have their leaves attached to make sure the family ties remain secure. For food, a chicken is served to ensure prosperity, a Tray of Togetherness (circular or octagonal candy tray) serves sweets each symbolizing happiness, long life, good health and other good wishes.

 The Shēngxiào also known as the Chinese Zodiac relates an animal with each year in a twelve year cycle. The year ending tonight is the year of the snake. The new year is the year of the horse. There are different legends of how the animals were picked and the order they go were picked in. Each animal presents certain personality traits for the people born in those years as well as ways the year should go. People born in the year of the horse love to be in a crowd and extremely active and animated. They love to be the center of attention and can be impatient and hot-blooded. 

I was lucky enough to receive a digital copy of Oliver Chin's The Year of the Horse: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac from Immedium. This adorable story goes through the live a foal and a young boy, Tom. Tom and the foal, Hannah, become good friends. The young boy's teacher has been asked to send a painting for the governor. She needs someone to deliver it, but everyone is busy. Tom offers to do the job, but the teacher feels he needs someone to go with him. All of the horses in Hannah's family are too busy to help so Hannah volunteers. Hannah and Tom ride off to make the delivery. They come across some challenges: a snake, a tiger, and dark, chilly nights, but together they are able to get through/past all of them. Hannah jumps the snake and walks nimbly by the sleeping tiger. Together the pair spends the cold night in a cave with a fire. They make the delivery and the governor invites them to dinner. They see a few sights of the city, but want to get home. They enjoy the sights on the way home since they do not have an important job to accomplish anymore. When they arrive home, the teacher shares a copy of the painting. It is the Chinese word for horse and the teacher says it describes Hannah's valiant spirit. The two friends loved to play together and remained good companions.

For more on China check out DIY Fortune Cookies, Chinese Cinderella, Chinese New Year 2013, Chinese New Year Instruments,

Sources: World Book's Celebrations and Rituals Around the World New Year's Celebrations  and Wikipedia and China Highlights

Korea
In Korea the lunar new year is called Seol. Generally it falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. It is a family holiday with much respect for one's family and ancestors. The Korean house is usually cleaned and special foods are prepared. The house lights remain on throughout the night and the people stay up to greet New Year's Day or Seollal. On Seollal people dress in the best clothes and start their day with Chayre. Charye is the ritual to make the food offerings to their ancestors. An altar table is set carefully with special foods. The family's leader conducts the ritual while someone else reads the chuk mun, the list of ancestor's names. Then the children perform Sebae, when they formally greet their elders (parents and grandparents). The children receive money and cakes and then there are special breakfasts, visits with neighbors, games, fortune telling and dancing. A typical game is yut which involves four sticks being thrown into the air and telling a fortune from how they land. Everyone in Korea eats one bowl of ttokkuk, rice cake soup on New Year's Day and they count their age by the number of New Year's Days they have lived through or how many bowls of ttokkuk they have eaten.

For more information and stories from Korea check out our past posts: The Korean Cinderella, Chap ch'ae (Around the World in 12 Dishes), and Kongi and Potgi: A Korean Cinderella.

Sources: Wikipedia and World Book's Celebrations and Rituals Around the World New Year's Celebrations 

Vietnam

Source

In Vietnam, the new year is called Tết. It is the most important celebration of the Vietnamese culture. People prepare for it by cleaning the house and preparing special foods. There are also many customs that go along with it like visiting friends and relatives and forgetting the bad of the past year. Similar to the Chinese, children receive red envelopes of money from their elders on New Year's Day. The first day of the new year is reserved for nuclear family. Since the Vietnamese think the first person to enter their house in the new year determines their fortune for the whole year, no one visits without an invitation. Sweeping during the holiday is taboo in fear of sleeping away good luck. The second day is usually reserved for friends and the third for teachers. They have some traditional food. One such food is Hạt Dưa or roasted watermelon seeds.

For more on Thailand check out The Golden Slipper post.

Sources: Wikipedia

Mongolia

Source

Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year, literally means white moon. It is one of the most important holidays in Mongolia. Around the new year families burn candles on the altar to symbolize Buddhist Enlightenment. Typically the family meets in the dwelling of the eldest member and dress in traditional Mongol costumes. When greeting their elders during Tsagaan Sar, Mongols perform a greeting ceremony called zolgokh. The eldest receives the greeting from each member except his spouse. After the greeting the family eats mutton, sheep's tail, dairy products, rice with curds, and buuz and exchange gifts. 

The day before Tsagaan Sar the Mongols completely clean their homes and herders clean their livestock barns to provide a complete fresh start for the new year. They also have a ceremony that includes burning candles on this day. 

Source: Wikipedia

So that is a bit about the lunar new year. What will you do to celebrate? We are planning on making some dumplings and having a Chinese inspired meal. We did make horse stick puppets. The pattern and idea came from Better Homes and Garden.



Finally, as promised here are some more ideas for learning about the Chinese New Year and crafts to do--these all came from last week's Sharing Saturday!

1) From Afterschool Learning for Smarty Pants: 8 Ways to Teach Your Kids about China


2) From In the Playroom: Chinese Crafts for Kids - Chinese Fans


3) From Gift of Curiosity: Chinese New Year Do-a-Dot Printables


If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button. I hope you will join us for this week's Sharing Saturday!

The Golden Slipper--Vietnamese Cinderella

This year I am going to do my Multicultural Mondays a bit different by exploring some fairy tales that are in different cultures. We are first going to focus on Cinderella. I did an introduction to Cinderella with the most common version of the story by Charles Perrault. Today we are going to look at the Vietnamese version of the story called The Golden Slipper or The Brocade Slipper.

Multicultural Monday: Chopsticks

This week I thought I would share a book that helps introduce chopsticks to a young child. The book really has no reference to the cultures that use chopsticks or how to use them, but it is fun and Hazel has enjoyed hearing it. I think reading it and then talking about chopsticks helps learn how others eat. My plan is to pull out some chopsticks and have her try to pick things up with them. We have not gotten to that part yet or to trying any crafts. So this post will be more about information and links I have found to share.

Now your first question may be who am I to talk about chopsticks? That is a good question. In high school I had good friends who are Cambodian, Vietnamese and Chinese. I went to several of one of the friends' siblings weddings where you often did not get a fork or spoon until the fourth or fifth course so your only option was to eat with chopsticks. This is how I learned to use them. Then in graduate school my roommates were a woman from China and a woman from Japan. (I have to say they were the best roommates I ever had!!) Our apartment had both Chinese and Japanese chopsticks as well as American utensils. We use to joke that I used the chopsticks more than either of them. Do you know the difference between Chinese and Japanese chopsticks? The Japanese ones are more pointed and usually shorter where as the Chinese tend to be more square on top.

Japanese Chopsticks

Chinese Chopsticks

 I am not sure which type Korean, Cambodians, etc. use, but do know these are the differences between them. However Wikipedia does go into details about the difference for each culture. Korean Chopsticks are medium length and have a small flat rectangular shape and are traditionally made out of brass or silver. Vietnamese and Tibetan are similar to the Chinese Chopsticks. Nepali Chopsticks are shorter and more blunt and usually made of bamboo. (Source: Wikipedia)

Wikipedia also provides a detailed history. However for a more concise history, Chopsticks.com gives a summary. Chopsticks are believed to have been used for 5,000 years and started in China. They were first used when fuel was scarce so the Chinese cut food into smaller pieces so it would cook faster and the bite size pieces gave no need for a knife at the table. Around 500 A.D. chopsticks spread to other Asian countries. In Japan they were first used only in religious ceremonies. (Source: Chopsticks.com)

How to eat with chopsticks. There are many tutorials on-line including YouTube if you want to see a video. For written ones check out: wikihow.com.

First let me tell you about the picture book we found: Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The book is about a pair of chopsticks who are "practically joined at the hip" until one day one of them breaks and while on the mend he insists his partner go out on his own and explore the world. Then the uninjured one discovers uses for himself as a single then they do things together and singly afterwards. It is cute but does not really go into details about chopsticks or what they are used for, how to use them, etc. It is a good book for children who have never really seen chopsticks to be exposed to them.

For a lesson on cultures and chopstick etiquette check out this great lesson plan from Asian Cultures Museum. It includes how to use chopsticks at the end as well as the dos and the don'ts in each culture. One thing I know, is if you are going to eat rice with chopsticks you need a rice bowl and need to hold it near your mouth. You also need to be sure you are eating what I call sticky rice and not the rice that is common in the US.

There are many ideas of crafts and activities with chopsticks. I think the most popular is to make hair chopsticks. Family Fun has a great picture and craft tutorial on this. Another popular one is to use them as knitting needles. I imagine the Japanese style would be best for this. Apples4theteacher shows an easy frame to make (and provides a link to Oriental Trader for the kits, but they look easy enough to do without the kit). eHow has a New Delhi Arts and Crafts of making a kite using chopsticks. Activity Village has the Chopsticks Game that seems a bit like a relay race using chopsticks to move objects from one bowl to another. TLC Home offers five reuses for chopsticks including to make garden stakes, pick-up-sticks game and for crafting like this life-size canoe by Shuhei Ogawara. At North Shore Pediatric Therapy they have a page of activities to do with chopsticks including the Chopstick Game and more and give the benefits of using them. Finally FaeMom has some great Chinese crafts including decorating chopsticks that she used to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Well I hope this gives you some ideas of introducing chopsticks to your young one(s). I know I will be pulling some out to have Hazel practice with them and maybe we will try to make a frame or a kite. Plus we will definitely be getting some Chinese food in the future and maybe I can get her to eat it with chopsticks with me. I will also introduce her to my wok and have her help me with a stir fry. Stay tuned for more experiences with this one! I will add pictures with any of the activities we do try. Enjoy!!

Additional Note: Today we used the chopsticks to move goldfish from one bowl to another. She loved doing it and was pretty good at it.

Then she started to make letters: X, L,  and T. Then she wanted to break the etiquette rules and use them as drum sticks.

This is where I share...

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures: The Golden Slipper: A Cinderella Tale from Ukraine

So this month Around the World in 12 Dishes is visiting Ukraine. I am behind in writing the intro and cooking something, but imagine my surprise when choosing a story at random from The Magic Egg and Other Tales from Ukraine by Barbara J. Suwyn I found a Cinderella tale. Hazel and I have been enjoying stories from this book each night. I pick one at random to read to her as part of our bedtime stories.Since today is the day I usually would share our food from the Ukraine, I thought we would share the Cinderella tale called "The Golden Slipper".

Sharing Saturday 13-3

I have big news this week. Since Mia has been missing in action, I had taken her blog off as a host, however, I have a new co-host!! So starting this week your shared posts will be seen on two blogs! I am happy to introduce Michelle from Having Fun at Chelle's House. I hope you will stop by and welcome her!!

Thank you to everyone who shared last week. If you have not had a chance to check out all of the wonderful ideas shared, you really should! I shared a couple of them on my Facebook page today and besides the features here today, I will also be doing some snow-themed features this weekend.  Now onto today's features!

And onto my some of my favorites!

1) From An Idea on Tuesday: Chalkboard Blocks
2) From Noor Janan Homeschool: Studying North America through The Fundamental Needs of Humans
3) From Art Mama Says: Things You Can Paint with--Toddler Discovery
4) From Mum makes Lists...: A Night Time Nature Walk for Mouldy Warp
5) From Sugar Aunts: Treasure Map
6) From Adventures at home with Mum: Reasons to Let Your Child Play with Mud

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here or earlier this week, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess: Fairy Tales from Around the World: Vietnamese Cinderella Book & Crafts

 

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Women in Wars -- Introduction-- Women's History Month

 

As I thought about Women's History Month I knew I wanted to really touch on women in history that may be forgotten. Today women are members of the Armed Forces, but not that long ago they were not allowed. I decided I would focus on women who played important roles in wars. This month I will share about women in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and the two World Wars. Today I thought I would start with some women who fought wars before America was a country. I have focused on the legend of Mulan in the past. She is one of the women who reportedly disguised herself as a man to fight in a war. Then there was the Greek goddess, Athena, who was the goddess of war, as well as the Amazons, the race of women warriors in Greek mythology. Even the Aztecs had a warrior goddess, Itzpapalotl. Then we know of Joan of Arc and how she led the French army through battles. And we shared about Artemisia in the past. Today let's talk about some of the other women you may not have heard about that fought in real wars and battles. As I started researching women in wars I found The Book of Heroines: Tales of History's Gutsiest Gals by Stephanie Warren Drimmer. All of the women, goddesses and legends mentioned in this post are featured in this book. This book is one of the sources for my entire post. I will list others that I used to find out more about the women and share books for kids when possible. (Note: I have not checked out these books but found them searching my local library website and Amazon.)