Menu Close

Press Release: New Talk Story Resources for Caregivers, Educators, Librarians, and Community Members

'Talk Story' in an arc over an illustration of two adults and three children gathered together with smiles on their faces with a music note, star and leaf icon over their heads. Text to the right of the illustration reads 'sharing stories' and to the left reads 'sharing culture'

Press Release 

Contact:
Jessea Young

Release Date:
May 20, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Talk Story Resources for Caregivers, Educators, Librarians, and Community Members

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce its 2023–2024 Best of the Best Booklist and translated Talk Story Prompt Cards.

The Best of the Best Booklist

Started in 2022, the Best of the Best Booklist celebrates stories from across the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) diaspora. All APALA members were invited to nominate picture book titles about AANHPI communities and experiences that were published in the 2023 and 2024 calendar years. To curate the final list, members of the APALA Family Literacy Focus Committee evaluated the nominations, guided by the mission of Talk Story and APALA Rubric to Evaluate Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Literature. The committee is grateful to all the members who nominated titles. Eligible titles that earned a 2023 or 2024 APALA Literature Award or Honoree designation were automatically added to the Best of the Best Booklist.

The titles depict diverse representations of heritages and cultures across the AANHPI diaspora. The committee selected books that support family literacy, create space for intergenerational conversation, and provide an opportunity to uplift a reader’s cultural identity or promote cultural literacy. While selecting books, the committee considered how a book could facilitate a moment for a child to reflect on a personal connection, learn about lives different from their own, and practice empathy. However, this booklist is for readers of all ages. This list is a resource for parents, caregivers, educators, librarians, and community members to purchase new books and support educational learning and programming. 

The 2023 APALA Best of the Best Booklist titles are: 

  • A Dupatta Is… written by Marzieh Abbas, illustrated by Anu Chouhan, and published by Feiwel and Friends. 9781250820945.
  • Hiʻiaka and Panaʻewa: A Hawaiian Graphic Legend written by Gabrielle Ahuli’i, illustrated by Sarah Demonteverde, and published by Picture Window Books. 9781484672853.
  • Quiet Time With My Seeya written and illustrated by Dinalie Dabarera, and published by Roaring Brook Press. 9781250824271.
  • Ning and the Night Spirits written and illustrated by Adriena Fong, and published by Flying Eye Books. 9781913123161.
  • Last Flight written by Kristen Mai Giang, illustrated by Dow Phumuruk, and published by Levine Querido. 9781646140862.
  • Desert Queen written by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Svabhu Kohli, and published by Levine Querido. 9781646142620.
  • Two New Years written by Richard Ho, illustrated by Lynn Scurfield, and published by Chronicle Books LLC. 9781797212814.
  • Finding Papa written by Angela Pham Krans, illustrated by Thi Bui, and published  by Harper. 9780063060968.
  • Summer Is For Cousins written by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Abhi Alwar, and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers. 9781419757334.
  • Lolo’s Sari-Sari Store written by Sophia N. Lee, illustrated by Christine Almeda, and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 9781534494473.
  • The Truth About Dragons written by Julie Leung, illustrated by Hanna Cha, and published by Henry Holt and Company. 9781250820587.
  • Scroll written and illustrated by Hui Li, and published by Little, Brown and Company. 9780316340731.
  • Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine written by Hannah Moushabeck, illustrated by Reem Madooh, and published by Chronicle Books. 9781797202051.
  • Bhangra Baby written by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Ani Bushry, and published by Beach Lane Books. 9781665936156.
  • Maribel’s Year written by Michelle Sterling, illustrated by Sarah Gonzales, and published by Katherine Tegen Books. 9780063114357. 
  • Spicy Spicy Hot written and illustrated by Lenny Wen, and published by Little, Brown and Company. 9780316281027.
  • Waiting for Tomorrow written by Susan Yoon, illustrated by Julie Kwon, and published by Farrar Straus Giroux. 9780374390228.

The 2024 APALA Best of the Best Booklist titles are: 

  • Awe-Samosas written by Marzieh Abbas, illustrated by Bhagya Madanasinghe, and published by Clarion Books. 9780063257276.
  • The Mochi Makers written and illustrated by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, and published by Beach Lane Books. 9781665931540.
  • Aloha Everything written by Kaylin Melia George, illustrated by Mae Waite, and published by Red Comet Press. 9781636551128.
  • Memory Garden written by Zohreh Ghahremani, illustrated by Susie Ghahremani, and published by Godwin Books. 9781250843036.
  • Noor Needs to Know written by Farhana Islam, illustrated by Nabila Adani, and published by Salaam Reads. 9781665957854.
  • Box of Dreams written by Faith Kazmi, illustrated by Christine Almeda, and published by Harper. 9780063251366.
  • Wat Takes His Shot: The Life & Legacy of Basketball Hero Wataru Misaka written by Cheryl Kim, illustrated by Nat Iwata, and published by Lee & Low Books Inc. 9781643796031.
  • Tala Learns to Siva written by Kealani Netane, illustrated by Dung Ho, and published by Orchard Books. 9781338859317.
  • Simone written by Viet Thanh Nguyen, illustrated by Minnie Phan, and published by Minerva. 9781662651199.
  • Seoul Food written by Erin Russell, illustrated by Tamisha Anthony, and published by Viking. 9780593464380.
  • Piper Chen Sings written by Phillipa Soo and Maris Pasquale Doran, illustrated by Qin Leng, and published by Random House Studio. 9780593564691.
  • The Spice Box written by Meera Sriram, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, and published by Alfred A. Knopf. 9780593427132.
  • My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story written by George Takei, illustrated by Michelle Lee, and published by Crown Books for Young Readers. 9780593566350.
  • The House Before Falling Into the Sea written by Ann Suk Wang, illustrated by Hanna Cha, and published by Dial Books for Young Readers. 9780593530153.
  • The Rock in My Throat written by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Jiemei Lin, and published by Carolrhoda Books. 9781728445687.
  • Caged written by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Khou Vue, and published by Kokila. 9781984816368.
  • Meena Can’t Wait written by Farida Zaman , and published by Orca Book Publishers. 9781459836396. 

Access the print-friendly version of the booklist.

For additional information about the Best of the Best Booklist, please visit https://www.apalaweb.org/talkstorytogether/resources/best-of-the-best-booklist/ 

To purchase the Best of the Best Booklist titles, please consider visiting the APALA Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/best-of-the-best-booklist-2023-2024

The Talk Story Prompt Cards

Created by APALA in 2024, the Talk Story Prompt Cards are designed to inspire families, educators, and librarians to engage in meaningful conversations and oral storytelling practices that reflect Talk Story values, encouraging dialogue about culture, family history, and more. To expand access to this resource, the prompt cards have been translated into Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Marathi, Tagalog, and Spanish. 

This initiative was made possible thanks to the dedication of volunteer translators, Joanna M. Arteaga La Spina, Ingrid Li, Wei Ling, Mrunal Ranade, and Kristine Segura, who generously contributed their time and language expertise to translate the Talk Story Prompt Cards. 

Explore the Talk Story Prompt Cards and their multilingual translations by visiting https://www.apalaweb.org/talkstorytogether/resources/. 

__________

The APALA Family Literacy Focus Committee/Education subcommittee members include: Jessea Young, co-chair, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA; Zoë Bowlus, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas; Nicole Fernandez, San Mateo County Libraries, Brisbane, CA; Erika Fitzpatrick, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Stafford, VA; Cathy Lin, LA County Library, Los Angeles, CA; Kim Nguyen, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA; Patty Sumire McGowan, Borough of Manhattan Community College Library, New York, NY; Yer Vang, Fresno County Public Library, Fresno, CA.

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was founded in 1980 by librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities.