Making Dumplings with Alden is a children’s picture book featuring a real family as they cook a meal together. The story is written in anapestic tetrameter to engage little readers and help develop their literacy skills and phonemic awareness. The book features real photos in order to captivate the attention of babies and toddlers and help them understand how to adapt and relate to the natural environment around them.

Making dumplings together is a time-honored Chinese tradition among many Asian families. This book will walk you through the process step by step as Alden and his mommy go through them. There's even a recipe at the end so you can try it at home yourself!

If you’re interested in bulk ordering, please contact lifeofadaventure@gmail.com. I offer discount pricing starting at 25 books!

How this all started:

I was inspired to write my first children’s book when my son Alden turned 8 months old and started showing an interest in reading books. It was amazing to witness his growing fascination with books. First, it was admiring the photos, then turning the pages by himself, and now listening to the story itself. 

However, I noticed that he mostly focused on books that featured real people, especially other babies. I bought as many books with real pictures as I could and they were lovely but many of them only show a specific item such as a ball or a truck and don’t follow a storyline. As the parent, I’m the one reading the book to him so I wanted to find more books that had an engaging storyline to accompany the real photos. 

Since I couldn’t find that many story-driven realistic books out there, I decided to write my own book featuring Alden himself. I wrote about making dumplings together because it’s a heartwarming cultural activity I share with my family. Growing up it was a whole family affair to gather around the kitchen and fold dumplings together. We would make various batches that included each of our favorite ingredients, have mini competitions to see who could fold their dumpling the most creatively, and of course, enjoy a wonderful meal together. It’s a beautiful Chinese tradition that I aim to continue with my own growing young family. 

I hope this book will inspire you to create or embrace your own family traditions and to share an activity with your child that will deepen your bond and build lasting memories together that they may one day share with their own children.

reviews of the book

Check out a few reviews of the book! To read more or add your own review, visit the book’s page on Amazon.com below.

SNEAK PEAK

Take a sneak peek at some of the images featured in the book!