Hmong Children’s Literature Resources
Children of all ages.
Board Books
Board Books
Tig, Toog = Hip, Hop
Board book. Text in Hmong and English. Domestic animals. Age: Birth-5.
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Board Books
Kaum Tus Me Nyuam Ntses
Board book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate Title: Ten little fish. Age: Birth-2.
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Board Books
Leej twg nyob ntawm nod? Tsiaj nyeg = Who lives here? Pets
Board book. Text in Hmong and English. "From puppies to kittens to goldfish or hamsters, we share our homes with special animals. They are our pets and members of our families. With each flip of a flap, babies and toddlers will have lots of fun talking about and discovering pictures of each animal and its home within our homes"--P. [4] of cover. Age: Birth-5.
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Board Books
I Can Do It
Board book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate title: Kuo Ua Tau. Features Gaolu, a whimsical and courageous Hmong girl who teaches our children that they can accomplish whatever they set their hearts to. Age: Birth-3.
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Board Books
Ua Si, Ua Si!
Board book. Text in Hmong. Tub looks for someone to play with and finds many animal friends along the way. Age: Birth-3.
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Picture Books
Picture Books
I Won’t Bite!
Child picture book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate title: I won't bite. Touch-and feel the animals who will not bite, but look out for the crocodile's sharp teeth! Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
Grandfather's Story Cloth
Child picture book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate title: Yawg daim paj ntaub dab neeg. Ten-year-old Chersheng helps his beloved grandfather cope with his failing memory, brought on by Alzheimer's disease, by showing him the story quilt Grandfather made after fleeing his homeland, Laos, during wartime. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
The Forbidden Treasure
Child picture book. Folklore. Age: 4-7.
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Picture Books
The Greedy Couple
Child picture book. When Greedy Husband dies, Greedy Wife needs help to harvest the rice in her fields. She hires a poor farmer but learns an important lesson from him about kindness and honesty. Age: 5-9.
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Picture Books
Ka's Garden
Child picture book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate Title: Kab lub vaj. “As Ka learns about gardening, the reader learns about traditional Hmong culture as well as the belief that everything on earth is part of the circle of life. Ka discovers the interconnectedness of the earth, the plants, and the animals. She learns the importance of sharing what the earth has provided to feed the animals and nourish her family. Ka's Garden is a place where the earth and all creatures come to life to create balance and harmony, a place where all can gather to celebrate the Hmong way of living."--Website. Age: 4-7
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Picture Books
The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee’s Story
Child picture book. Young Mai's grandmother teaches her to make the traditional Hmong pa ndau storycloth while they are living in a refugee camp in Thailand. Mai weaves her life and dreams into her pa ndau and when it comes time to sell it so that her family may leave the camp, she questions whether she will be able to do so. Age: 5-7
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Picture Books
The Ball That Did Not Like to Bounce
Child picture book. George is different from the other balls he knows. Follow him on a journey to find out if being different is okay. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Pickles + Ocho
Child picture book. Pickles is a very happy French bulldog who lives in a big house. He has lots of toys and gets lots of attention from his two papas. Life for Pickles is perfect--until Ocho arrives. Age: 4-8.
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Picture Books
Qhov phajtshab : Hmoob ib Lub Xyoo
Child picture book. Text in Hmong. Alternate title: Gift : the Hmong New Year. Dao, a Hmong-American girl, has a social studies project to do but has no idea how to get started until her grandfather comes to her aid. With information and help from the older generation, Dao learns how the Hmong celebrated the New Year in her grandparents' time. Age: 8-11.
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Picture Books
A Map into the World
Child picture book. Paj Ntaub, a young Hmong American girl, spends a busy year with her family in their new home, and seeks a way to share the beauty of the world with a grieving neighbor. Age: 5-8.
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Picture Books
New Life in America
Child picture book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate Title: Lub Neej Tshiab Nyob Tebchaws Amiskas. Age: 4-7.
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Early Readers
Early Readers
Astrid and Apollo and the Starry Campout
Child early chapter book. Astrid is afraid of the dark and doesn't want to go on her family camping trip. But her twin brother, Apollo, is excited. When they encounter scary things such as crawly bugs and the creepy dark, Apollo helps his twin through them. And when they encounter the scariest thing of all, Astrid might just be the one to save the starry campout. Age: 6-8.
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Early Readers
Pa Lia’s First Day
Child fiction book. On the first day of second grade at her new school, Pa Lia Vang discovers that things are not as bad as she had feared. Age: 5-8.
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Graphic Novel
Graphic Novel
The Collection
Child graphic novel. On the first day of school, fifth grader Duab gets assigned a "family heritage project" that includes making a class presentation. Duab feels uncomfortable talking about her Hmong background in this mainly white community. She also has to help her little sister get used to school and help her mother host a family reunion party. Follow Duab as she tries to balance her school and home life while discovering the importance of her culture. Age: 8-11.
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Graphic Novel
Then and Now
Child graphic novel. Yia, a young girl, works with her parents farming the land and wishes she could go to America, like her older sister. Years later, when Yia is living in America, she takes her children to tend their vegetable garden because this reminds her of the home she misses. Age: 8-11.
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Graphic Novel
Kickoff Blitz
Child graphic novel. When Tou Yang's football team plays the team from his former school, where he was picked on for being small, he struggles to remain focused and use his skills against Darren, who still wants to bully him. Age: 8-11.
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Fiction
Fiction
Little Cricket
Child fiction book. After the upheaval of the Vietnam War reaches them, twelve-year-old Kia and her Hmong family flee from the mountains of Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand and eventually to the alien world of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Age: 8-11.
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Fiction
The Imaginary Day
Fiction book. On the first day of summer break, twin brothers, Tou Bee and Tou Cher are bummed when their mom takes away their video games. She makes the crazy suggestion that they use their imaginations instead! Determined to find their video games, the boys go on a quest that includes ninjas, dungeons, wild dogs, and even a dragon!
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Fiction
Tangled Threads : A Hmong Girl’s Story
Child fiction. After ten years in a refugee camp in Thailand, thirteen-year-old Mai Yang travels to Providence, Rhode Island, where her Americanized cousins introduce her to pizza, shopping, and beer, while her grandmother and new friends keep her connected to her Hmong heritage. Age: 10-14.
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Fiction
Shoua and the Northern Lights Dragon
Fiction book. Quiet and shy, Shoua is heartbroken when she is not allowed to go on a camping trip with her grandfather, father and two brothers simply because she is a girl. When Shoua's mother has special dreams about a falling star in the forest, her grandfather mysteriously allows Shoua to come along and camp in the north Minnesota woods. While camping, a star falls and a wounded dragon is found. Shoua becomes determined to save the dragon in order to prove her place in the family. In the process, she discovers her own voice and magical power!
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Fiction
Melody of the Qeej
Fiction book. Phengxue was always too busy with soccer and friends to take an interest in the ancient Hmong qeej, until his two best friends encounter the instrument during a visit. Their curiosity brings them to Grandfather, whose wisdom teaches the three boys the importance of the qeej during Hmong funerals. Not only does this instrument play beautiful melodies, it also guides a loved one's soul back to the land of the ancestors. Phengxue's heart is pulled by its soft music, as if the qeej is speaking to him, nudging him to learn this special instrument. Will he answer its call to become a great qeej player?
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Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Nine-in-one, Grr! Grr!
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate title: Cuban tug-ib-xyoos, Mlaug! Mlaug. When the great god Shao promises Tiger nine cubs each year, Bird comes up with a clever trick to prevent the land from being overrun by tigers. Age: 5-8.
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Nonfiction
Dia’s Story Cloth
Child nonfiction book. Alternate title: Hmong people's journey of freedom. The story cloth made for her by her aunt and uncle chronicles the life of the author and her family in their native Laos and their eventual emigration to the United States. Age: 6-11.
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Nonfiction
Jouanah, a Hmong Cinderella
Child nonfiction book. Alternate Title: Ntsuag Nos : Ib Tug Cinderella Hmoob. Despite a cruel stepmother's schemes, Jouanah, a young Hmong girl, finds true love and happiness with the aid of her dead mother's spirit and a pair of special shoes. Age: 5-8.
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Nonfiction
Mai Ya's Long Journey
Child nonfiction book and e-book. Relates the personal story of Mai Ya Xiong and her family and their journey from the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand to a new life in Madison, Wisconsin. Age: 8-13.
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Nonfiction
Dance, Mice, Dance!
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate title: Seevce, nas tsuag, seevcev! Jimmy Tune, a magic flute player, finds success when he teams up with some mice. Age: 8-11.
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Nonfiction
Farmer Boy
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate title: Tub qoob tub loo. A story from the Hmong culture telling how it began that farmers have to work hard to harvest their fields. Age: 5-8.
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Nonfiction
Many Ideas Open the Way : A Collection of Hmong Proverbs
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. A collection of twenty proverbs from the Hmong tradition, such as "The mouth tastes food; the heart tastes words," which represent the culture and heritage of this South Asian people. Age: 5-8.
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Nonfiction
Only a Toad
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. A toad, dissatisfied with his lot in life, ventures out into the world and discovers that being a toad is not so bad after all. Age: 5-8.
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Nonfiction
The Hmong People and the Turtle
Nonfiction child book. A Hmong tale that explains why turtles have shells. Age: 5-8.
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Nonfiction
The Stepmother and the Three Children
Child nonfiction book. A Hmong tale similar to Hansel and Gretel, but with a kinder ending. Age: 8-11.
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Nonfiction
Three Hmong folktales: Ntsaum thiab ntxhw, Hmoob thiab vaub kib, Tub ntsuag thiab neeg muaj nyiag
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong. Alternate Titles: The Ant and the Elephant, The Hmong People and the Turtle, The Orphan and the Rich Boy. Age 8-11.
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Nonfiction
Grandma's Hmong New Year celebration
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. Social life and customs. Age: 8-11.
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Nonfiction
The Story of the Turtle and the Giant Hornbill
Child nonfiction book. Text in Hmong and English. Alternate Title: Dab neeg hais txog vaub kib thiab nkawm naim txiv noog tuam haum vag. A Hmong folktale describing how the turtle acquired its cracked shell. Age: 6-12.
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Nonfiction
Candy = Khobnoom
Child nonfiction book. Parallel titles in English and Hmong. Beginning readers will love this colorful book about one of their favorite things in the world--candy! Students will enjoy looking at different kinds of Asian and American snacks. Age: 2+
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