Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic

In the second book from these sibling collaborators (following Mahjong All Day Long), Chinese-American Jinyi and her family are visiting their Auntie and Uncle Yang outside Chicago. While on a drive, the extended family discovers a soybean field (“In Illinois, soybeans were grown to feed cows and pigs... but in China, soybeans were one of the most important foods of all”), and they share their first “soybean picnic,” which becomes a new tradition. Lo echoes the message about the importance of personal heritage with her engrossing domestic scenes, painted on glazed porcelain plates. Each expressive composition stands alone, but together they provide an intimate chronicle of a multigenerational family. Ages 6–10. (Apr.)