Reviews

Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods by Grace Lin

wall0w's review

adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

a delightful collection of myth and legend connected to a wide range of dishes, capped off with beautiful art and tastefully (excuse the pun) adapted for a modern audience. A real feast!

staceyliu95's review

informative fast-paced

4.0

bibliobrandie's review

5.0

I found this book interesting and engaging. Lin provides a detailed overview of different Chinese dishes, including their historical and cultural significance, along with some interesting stories about their origins. If you like Chinese food, you should read this book. I was feeling hungry the entire time I was reading!

organchordsandlightning's review

informative lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Really cool! Definitely middle grade fiction, but it's a lot of fun to read the various myths and how various food is prepared and why.

boathon's review

informative medium-paced

5.0

roseleaf24's review

5.0

I loved this book; it was great as an audiobook. Lin goes through many common items from menus of American Chinese restaurants and tells their history and a story about their inspiration or creation. She does so with respect for Chinese tradition and culture, and also for the life of Chinese immigrants. It is all very engaging.

aberman's review

informative lighthearted

4.5

mnstucki's review against another edition

informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

Listened to the audio version (after having read the physical copy last fall) because this was named an Odyssey Honor book at the 2024 Youth Media Awards. It's awesome! The narration is well done, including sound effects and correct pronunciations of the Chinese terms/characters that are included throughout the physical book. This would be fun to listen to while reading/looking at the pictures in the hard copy it's just a beautiful book and the audio definitely adds another layer. 

joyceisbooked's review

3.5

I enjoyed learning some stories about the names i typically see on Chinese menus. Sometimes the story felt repetitive because the author gives a "short" explanation of the story before telling it, but sometimes its the whole plot! I didn't mind it at first but, once we got to the chef's special section, it was pretty tedious.  other than that, the authors interpretations of these Chinese stories gave necessary imagery descriptors without doing too much.

libraryjen's review

hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Warning: this book will make you constantly hungry.
I enjoyed both the history lessons and the origin stories for each dish. Just a delight!