Aya Katz' Ping & the Snirkelly People: Book Review

Everything about this book was interesting to me. I read it mostly in one sitting (no great feat, I admit, since it is only about 150 pages in large print). It was written by one of our brightest, most accomplished, funny and fascinating Hubbers, Aya Katz. If you haven't yet discovered Aya, you are missing something. I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated this book. However...

This book is not your usual children's fare. Not by a long shot. In fact, I believe that adults and teens are the more appropriate target readers. The book deals with cultural differences, culture shock and culture clash as experienced through the eyes of a 6 year old Chinese girl in America. The small protagonist, Ping, who speaks not a word of English, is thrust into an American elementary school when her Chinese family begins a one year visit to the United States for unspecified reasons. In nine chapters, the book adeptly tackles not only the collision of two disparate cultures and a child's efforts to assimilate; it also offers an in- depth look at language acquisition, both spoken and written, from the perspective of the child.

This work of realistic fiction is illuminating, clever, and often funny for the open-minded mature reader. Native born English speakers and probably just about everyone else will relate to Ping's innocent misconceptions of what she hears, such as the "Pledge of a Legion". Then there is the charming little family ritual of Ping's father asking her what she has learned at school. Her responses are always disarming, like the day she declares, "I learned that Mrs. Eunice believes in Santa Claus."

The book is written on about a fourth grade level, give or take. However, it is not necessarily suitable for child consumption, in my view. It is not typical for the central character of a children's book to be younger than the intended reader. Some prospective young readers will balk at the idea of reading a book about a "little kid". But much more significantly, the book deals with controversial issues, such as belief in Santa Claus and God. And it is impolitic in how it characterizes children in special education classes. There is much potential for child readers to be confused and even to find parts of the book disturbing if left to absorb it on their own.

 I would recommend this book for adults, especially teachers and others who work with children and families from different cultures. I can also envision this book as an assigned reading on cultural diversity for teens in a Language Arts or Social Studies curriculum. I would caution parents to read the book before handing it over to a child. Some parents may be comfortable reading the book with their child and processing it with the child as they go along. Others will just choose to steer clear. As an English Second Language instructor or reading tutor, I would use  the earlier chapters of the book as read togethers for middle schoolers, avoiding the second half of the book with its more controversial content. 

Ping & the Snirkelly People is well written, entertaining, and offers valuable insights about the Chinese culture, diversity, and about learning a second language.  Support a talented fellow writer on Hubpages and buy the book for yourself, as I did.