Review of Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang

Authors

Maddie Faulkner, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Publisher

Tundra Books

City

Toronto, Canada

Date of Publication

2023

ISBN

9781774881989

Date of Review

2024

Disciplines

Library and Information Science | Modern Literature

Keywords

Children's literature, international, family, food

Review

In this beautifully illustrated story, Liddy is so excited for her family’s trip to the Dim Sum Palace the next day that she dreams of discovering a real dim sum palace, complete with larger-than-life chefs and even a real empress. After being put to bed by her mother, Liddy wakes up to the smell of dim sum, and follows it into a dreamy courtyard of a grand dim sum palace. She follows the delicious smell to the kitchens, where she finds chefs making the delicious smelling dim sum. As Liddy explores the various foods and ingredients, she falls into a pot of dim sum filling and finds herself wrapped into a dumpling that is then served to the empress. Right before the empress eats her, Liddy calls out to exclaim that she is not a dumpling, but rather a “little girl.” After proving to the empress that she is not a dumpling, Liddy and the empress feast on dumplings until Liddy wakes up back in her world. Liddy then goes to the Dim Sum Palace with her family, and despite its differences from her imagination, she has a great time eating dim sum with her family. The unique illustration technique of pre-drawn graphic sketches that were then colored in digitally give this book a comforting and cozy feel. These illustrations emphasize the nostalgic feel the story conveys through a young girl’s love of traditional ethnic food. This book would be best utilized by librarians as a way to emphasize cross-cultural connections between children, especially in the realm of cultural foods children may be unfamiliar with.

Highly Recommended Maddie Faulkner, Centennial Library, Cedarville University

Recommended Citation

Faulkner, Maddie, "Review of Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang" (2024). Library Intern Book Reviews. 408.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/intern_book_reviews/408

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