Mandarin Chinese books and tools for preschoolers & Kindergarteners in non-native households
Bilingual Chinese books for preschoolers and Kindergarteners are not the easiest to find if you live in the United States. However, finding age-appropriate books is important if you want your child to be bilingual in Mandarin Chinese and English.
I only have an elementary level grasp of Mandarin and my husband can speak but cannot read or write Chinese. Our acquisition and exposure is more helpful than none at all, however, it is still challenging to find books that work for us. Typically I try to find books that are printed with Chinese characters, English, and pinyin.
Check out my list of books and tools we’ve used to help our kids learn Chinese.
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Read Chinese books to your preschooler
If you’re a non-native speaker or cannot read Chinese at all, it’s even more difficult to find books that will work for your family. However it is still possible, and extremely important if you aim for your child to be bilingual in Chinese and English. Reading to your child is the most effective tool to encourage language development.
Pinyin can help non-native Chinese speakers
Pinyin is the romanization system of Chinese that helps non-native Chinese speakers learn to read and pronounce Mandarin Chinese. It’s the most commonly used phonetic system for writing Mandarin Chinese using the Latin alphabet. Pinyin is hugely helpful for parents who read little to no Chinese as it should enable you to get through Mandarin Chinese books for preschoolers and Kindergarteners.
Below you’ll find a collection of Chinese books and tools for preschoolers and Kindergarteners that our family has found engaging and helpful. We’ve been able to use these to help encourage bilingualism in our kids even though neither parent can read Chinese fluently.
Some of these items might even work with toddlers, but if you’re specifically looking for books for younger babies and children around 0-3 years old, don’t miss: Mandarin Chinese books for babies & toddlers to encourage bilingualism in non-native households
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Alphabet & Vocabulary Chinese books and tools for preschoolers & Kindergarteners
My First Chinese Alphabet Book
The boys Mandarin immersion preschool used this book so we got it for home too. It teaches the Chinese ‘alphabet’ or zhuyin which is another phonetic system for learning to read Mandarin Chinese. This one comes with an audio CD which will help non-native households with correct pronunciation.
Slide and Seek: 100 Words English-Chinese
Pull the tab to toggle between English and Chinese as you introduce 100 words to your child.
Learn Chinese for Kids Poster Set
Common vocabulary shown with pictures, English, Chinese characters and pinyin. We have these hanging in the playroom and they’re in Elden’s Kindergarten classroom. Having them regularly visible helps encourage and reinforce vocabulary.
Luka Hero Reading Robot
We love Luka! Once my kids started getting a little older I knew my elementary Chinese wasn’t going to be enough to keep up with them. I know reading is critical for learning and vocabulary acquisition though. So I was elated to find Luka the Chinese reading robot.
Luka is a cute owl-like smart robot that uses a camera to scan book covers, search its online database for audio recordings, and then Luka will read the book in Chinese page by page. There are recordings by all different native speakers so it’s as if different adults with varying voices (not a robot) are really reading to your children. It’s not perfect, but we’ve been happy with it and I feel it really fills a gap for helping non-Native households. This is also a great way for you to expand your Chinese book library and exposure for your kids without needing to be able to read Chinese characters or find every single book with pinyin or English.
Learn more about Luka here.
TKmom Food Superman Mandarin Chinese Phonetic Interactive Recording Learning Machine
This interactive book and audio system packs a lot in. It introduces the zhuyin phonetic system with audio buttons for each to help with the correct pronunciation. There is also a book, nursery rhymes, and a recording feature for kids to record and playback their speaking or singing. Unfortunately, it shows as unavailable on Amazon right now, but this may change in the future or maybe you can find it on another site.
Fun with Chinese Workbook 1
A workbook that’s a little more fun and interactive to help young kids learn their characters more easily.
Big Chinese Workbook for Little Hands
A basic workbook for Kindergarteners who are just starting to learn how to write Chinese characters.
Story Chinese books for preschoolers & Kindergarteners
I love my grandpa
My eldest shocked the socks off me when I realized he could read some characters throughout this book. This book showcases an adorable relationship between Mina and her grandpa. You can find other Mina books and they’re available in both traditional and simplified characters.
I Like Pickles
My children love pickles so they find this book amusing. It introduces common phrases and animals and reinforces verbs with color highlighting.
Chinese for Kids Set 1: 10 First Reader Books
Set of simple books for young kids starting to learn to read Chinese on their own. You can access online audio recordings to help read along with the books. This is the traditional character set, but it’s also available in simplified characters.
Culture Chinese books for preschoolers & Kindergarteners
Children recognize differences among themselves and others earlier than we think. This is not a bad thing at all, but it’s important to talk about these things and encourage pride and love for their differences.
Helping children understand and celebrate Chinese culture, and recognize there are other places where people majorly speak Chinese will help encourage bilingualism. The following books are in English, however, they are still useful and important in encouraging Chinese learning.
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
This beautifully illustrated book celebrates diversity and encourages acceptance and love for Asian-shaped eyes.
Tiny Travelers: China
Tiny Travelers series highlights countries and cultures all over with beautiful imagery of landscapes, people, and traditions and even introduces a few words in the native language. The China book always gets my kids talking about wanting to take a trip to China.
How to Catch a Dragon
This is one of those most frequently read books in our home. It’s a comical story of mishaps interwoven with Chinese New Year celebrations.
Where to purchase Chinese books for preschoolers & Kindergarteners
If you cannot read Chinese characters, make sure to look for books that at least have pinyin so you’re still able to read to your children in Mandarin. There are translation reading pens, Luka and tutors, which are all great options, but being able to read at least some to your child directly is important and impactful.
Amazon
My first go-to is always Amazon as it’s the easiest option. However, it’s not that easy to find many Chinese English books there. If you are looking for a specific book you might have better luck.
Books.com.tw
This is a popular site, almost like Amazon, in Taiwan. It’s a little funky to navigate, but if you’re comfortable enough with translated pages you can figure it out. They ship to the U.S.
The following two sites are smaller shops offering curated Chinese books for all different ages that they select and import mostly from China and Taiwan.
You can find books and other items in Chinese, and several other languages, on the following sites.
