So, actually, I wanted to choose China this time, because it was approaching the Chinese New Year. However, we decided it was best to just let MonkeyD choose a country on her own.
When I asked MonkeyD to choose a country, I handed her the stack of Dover sticker paper doll books. As I read the names of the countries on each one she got excited when I got to "China". "Oh! I want to do China because I want to watch Mulan!" she said. Sooo...we started out with our book, Mei-Mei from China
. :-)I thought that we would get to attend some local events at the library in conjunction with the New Year holiday, but the one event was canceled and the other event didn't fit into our schedule.
We took the easy way out with Chinese meals by ordering take-out from a local restaurant. MonkeyD was excited to use her chopsticks
that we got her back when we were learning about Japan. I'm also happy to say that, although Grandma was hesitant, she tried every dish that we got and made the comment that it didn't taste like the Chinese food she had remembered. I guess a bad experience can make you reluctant to try it again, but I'm glad she gave it another chance. MonkeyD and Lil Pistol both decorated dragons by coloring and attaching streamers to tagboard that I had cut in the shape of dragon faces. They danced their dragons around while we listened to some music from China on an internet radio site. There are a lot to choose from at http://www.multilingualbooks.com/online-radio-chinese.html.
We did watch Disney's Mulan
one evening, at MonkeyD's request. We also watched Play & Learn Chinese Vol. 7 with Mei Mei 
and Play & Learn Chinese Vol. 3 with Mei Mei.
We chose these volumes simply because they were the ones available at the library. MonkeyD enjoyed both videos. I could hear her trying to repeat the phrases from the lesson. In addition to those videos, we watched Arthur: Big Brother Binky
. In this episode of Arthur, Binky and his parents take a trip to China to adopt his little sister. The last movie that we watched was Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Kai-Lan's Great Trip to China. MonkeyD was familiar with Kai-Lan because we also got the book, Kai-lan's Great Trip to China
and she played on the Kai-Lan website, http://www.nickjr.com/ni-hao-kai-lan/. Our book list was really long for China!
Kindergarten Day USA and China by Trish Marx and Ellen B Senisi was a great book for showing MonkeyD some simple similarities and differences between a school day for children in the USA and China. 
MonkeyD and I really enjoyed The Silk Princess 
by Charles Santore. Of course, as MonkeyD keeps repeating, she "LOVES mermaids, princesses and fairies!" so any book on one of these subject matters has a good chance of entertaining her. This is based on a Chinese legend about the discovery of silk. The illustrations are beautiful and incorporate ancient Chinese architecture, dress and flora. There is even a dragon, so what more could MonkeyD need? :-)Another legend that we read more than once was The Long-Haired Girl
by Doreen Rappaport. In this story, a woman attempts to save her community from the effects of a drought. She chooses to risk her life by angering the god of thunder who doesn't want her to tell anyone of his secret water spring. The Shell Woman & The King
by Laurence Yep is one of the folktales that we read only once. In my opinion, some parts were a little too dark for a four year old. It is about a woman who can transform herself into a shell. She is captured by an evil king and inorder to escape she must trick him. In one part she cuts off the arm of a ghost and there is an illustraction of a creepy bloody arm being cut off.
We enjoyed Rabbit's Gift 
by George Shannon. This is a fable from China. It's a simple tale about a rabbit that begins a chain reaction of kindness during a snowstorm by sharing his turnip with another animal.
MonkeyD also chose to read Lon Po Po 
by Ed Young several times. This is "A red-riding hood story from China". In my opinion, the illustrations were pretty scary! It is about a wolf that tries to trick three children. The children figure him out and have to trick him instead. It ends with the death of the wolf.
I, Doko by Ed Young was an unusual fable because it was told from the perspective of a basket. The basket carries a child and the child grows up and then the basket is almost used to carry an old man to the temple steps so that he can be taken care of by the priests. MonkeyD enjoyed Red Thread
, another story by Ed Young. But I was uncomfortable with some parts of the story - as far as being appropriate for a four year old. In this story, a man goes to a matchmaker to find out who he will marry. He doesn't like the prediction that he receives and attempts to have the girl (his predicted future bride) murdered. It turns out that he does unknowingly marry that girl. When he realizes that it is her, he tells her about his attempt to have her murdered, and the girl doesn't seem to be upset. In fact, the story goes, "After this, the couple grew closer." 
The Warlord's Kites by Virginia Walton Pilegard takes place in ancient China. An invading army is about to attack and three children in the palace devise a plan to send the invading army away. It was a fun story that encouraged MonkeyD to use some problem solving skills to figure out what was happening in the story. 
We read Doctor Me Di Cin
by Roberto Pumini. In this story, a doctor is called in to heal a prince. The solution is to get him to go outside for some fresh air. 
Always Come Home to Me by Belle Yang is a story about a young brother and sister who love their pet doves and risk getting into trouble with their parents to try to get their doves back when the doves are given away. 
MonkeyD particularly enjoyed Lin Yi's Lantern 
by Brenda Wiliams and Benjamin Lacombe. It's a story about a little boy who must get some things from the market for his mother. He really wants to get a special red lantern, but he puts his mother's and uncle's needs ahead of his. In the end he is rewarded. The story and images give us an in introduction to the market life in China and the tradition of the Moon Festival. Later, when we were visiting a local museum, MonkeyD was excited to point out a display of miniature figures marching along with red lanterns. 
Ms. Frizzle's adventures in Imperial China by Joanna Colewas a fun book from the creators of The Magic School Bus series. The first time that we tried to read it, MonkeyD couldn't concentrate on it. But the second and third times that we looked at it we made it all the way through. :-) It is about a teacher and a couple of her students that are transported back in time to Imperial China. Through their adventure there we are introduced to many Chinese inventions and emblems. The Chinese New Year
by Nancy Mahan Gjording is a beginning reading level book. It had photographs and simple sentences about things that are used to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We also read a few stories about Chinese immigrants in the United States and about some children that were adopted by American families from China. All of these books exposed us to some part of Chinese culture by including Chinese names, words or traditions. These included: Hannah is My Name
by Belle Yang, My Mei Mei 
by Ed Young, Every Year On Your Birthday
by Rose Lewis, 
