Chinese School occupies Saturday mornings during this school year for the Quinns; Mom bakes treats for our breakfast club fundraiser, Dad volunteers as Co-Chair and Ke Ting (Olivia) works her eighth and final year of Mandarin language and cultural studies, including Art, Calligraphy, Dance and Kung Fu.
When we adopted our daughter in China in 2006, we promised we would ensure she had an opportunity to learn Mandarin and enjoy open access to her heritage. It’s really just a slice of her interests in total, and I know some years the added homework seemed a chore, but its a culture we all feel close to, especially after so many volunteer hours in our welcoming community.
I don’t write this (just) to promote the value of the school. (Though you are welcome to visit us any time if you want China in your family’s mix of study and fun!)
Speaking of fun and fundraising, this week the school offered books for sale and I signed for friends who bought copies to support both me and the school’s 50th Anniversary Fund.
I projected the beautiful pages of the book — thanks to my illustrating partner, Ashley Spires, and the team at Crown Books for Young Readers, design maven Liz Tardiff, assistant editor Elizabeth Stranahan and of course, our editor and publisher, Phoebe Yeh — and read the rhyming lullaby while the kids all chimed in on the monster baby word balloon sounds!
I am your Saturday morning cartoon.
“We’ve had a wild and woolly night, now come give Daddy one more bite.”
“Sing it with me, BlupBlupBloooop.”
“What does the Wolfgirl say?”
in walked quinn 