Grandfather’s Story Cloth/ Yawg Daim Paj Ntaub Dab Neeg

Grandfather’s Story Cloth/ Yawg Daim Paj Ntaub Dab Neeg

Written by: Linda Gerdner and Sarah Langford
Illustrated by: Stuart Loughridge

Elementary Grades

"Chersheng starts to feel distant from his beloved grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Their bond is strengthened, however, when his mother gives him a story cloth made by his grandfather that represents his life as a Hmong hill farmer in Laos and his time in a refugee camp in Thailand before coming to America. A beautiful book which bridges the generation gap between children and the elderly."

**This is a bilingual book written with English and Hmong with an informative afterword written about Hmong culture**

Online Resources:
http://www.hmongculture.net/

Whispering Cloth: A Refugees Story

Whispering Cloth: A Refugees Story

Written by: Pegi Deitz Shea
Pegi Deitz Shea (Author)
Illustrated by: Anita Riggio and You Yang

Elementary Grades

"Set in a refugee camp in Thailand, this picture book about a small Hmong child quietly tells a story of terror. As they wait in the camp, Grandmother teaches Mai to stitch traditional pa'ndau story cloths. First Mai sews only the borders, but then she stitches her own story, filling the cloth with pictures that show the murder of her parents and her escape under fire in a basket on Grandmother's back. Soft-toned watercolor and gouache illustrations set the story in the present; then reproductions of the real stitched story cloths by Hmong refugee You Yang show the child's war experiences. The stitched pictures in folk-art style distance the brutality, both showing and telling that art can be a powerful force. The final pa'ndau of Mai flying with her grandmother in an airplane to a land of comfort and safety is a moving representation of the dreams of refugees everywhere."

Booklist Review

Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella

Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella

Written by: Jewell Reinhart Coburn and Tzexa Cherta Lee
Illustrated by: Anne Sibley O'Brien

Elementary Grades

"Jouanah's shocking introduction to her newly-translated mother is the unforeseen crisis point where her young life takes a sudden and decisive turn. Her story takes readers to the remote mountains of Southeast Asia, to the traditional home of the Laotian Hmong. All essential Cinderella elements are here to enthrall readers of all ages. Gorgeous artwork remains faithful in the depiction of the Hmong lifestyle and the high mountain villages."

Publishers Synopsis