Dim Sum Palace

August 1, 2023
A child takes a fantastical journey to the Dim Sum Palace. Liddy, a round girl with plump cheeks and Asian features, is too excited to fall asleep--tomorrow her family is going to the Dim Sum Palace. "Is it a real palace?" Liddy wonders. When a heavenly aroma wafts through her bedroom door, she follows it to a grand palace, where two giant chefs are making delectable dim sum. Liddy is tiny in comparison, and when she falls into a bowl of dumpling filling, she is scooped up, folded into a bun, and served to the gigantic Empress herself (cued Asian, like the chefs) in a surreal twist of fate. "STOP! Don't eat me!" The Empress instead invites Liddy to join her in a meal. Finally, Liddy awakens in her own bed, "hungry for more dim sum." Liddy's family then visits the real Dim Sum Palace, which isn't "a palace at all" and has no Empress, but the food is even more satisfying. Saturated teal, blue, and salmon dominate in Fang's enticing graphite and digital artwork. Human forms are plump, and both the theme and look are reminiscent of Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen (1970). The spread of the real Dim Sum Palace's bright orange interior featuring tables full of diverse diners is a delightful touch. Endpapers highlight different types of dim sum. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A real (delicious) trip. (Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2023
Liddy's excitement about a family trip to the Dim Sum Palace keeps her wide awake. "Is it a real palace? Will I meet an empress?" Getting out of bed, she follows a delicious smell that leads her to the very establishment "and into a kitchen where she found two busy chefs making dim sum." Liddy is small, and the nighttime kitchen, its dim sum wonders, and the two chefs are huge, an entertaining homage to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. She falls into a bowl of dumpling filling and is "folded and pinched" until "she looked good enough to eat!" In fact, she's served to the empress; luckily, Liddy catches the empress's attention and, instead of being eaten, is welcomed as a guest. The story's heartwarming ending embraces the magic of family and the joy of sharing meals. Fang's playful storytelling and vibrant illustrations capture the essence of childhood wonder and imagination. The beautifully decorated endpapers showcase forty different dim sum dishes, further immersing readers in the culinary experience. A delightful celebration of food, culture, and family traditions. Weileen Wang

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 *Starred Review* Liddy is so excited about tomorrow's trip to Dim Sum Palace that she can barely sleep! When she smells a delicious aroma coming from down the hall, she follows her nose to a gigantic kitchen where she's the size of a mouse, and a pair of outsized chefs are preparing dumplings. As she climbs up steamers and around bulky stalks of bok choi, she slips and tumbles right into a bowl of filling, where she's summarily scooped up and bundled into a dumpling herself! Fang's delightful story about a nighttime kitchen adventure has shades of Maurice Sendak's classic In the Night Kitchen, thanks to the building-sized ingredients and tiny child explorer, but Liddy is a force unto herself--arms crossed and with a grouchy scowl, she objects loudly as she's about to be eaten by an empress, who is delighted enough by her little visitor that Liddy gets her own huge plate of dumplings before she's quietly lifted back to bed on a pillow-like bun. Full of fine-lined crosshatching and a saturated color palette, Fang's artwork is deliciously off-kilter, with flattened and blocky figure designs and a fanciful sense of scale underscoring the charming imagination of Liddy's dream. Food-loving kids eagerly anticipating a special treat will easily recognize Liddy's wide-eyed excitement--and probably end up asking for a snack.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 9, 2023
A child eager for dim sum takes a surreal nighttime journey in Fang’s solo debut, reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen. Liddy is so excited to visit the Dim Sum Palace that she finds it hard to fall asleep. After her mother wishes “Good night, my little dumpling,” clouds bearing “a delicious smell” beckon, and Liddy walks through a palace’s garden and down a hall, where two giant-size chefs prepare a meal: “There were baos, buns and bowls of congee!” When diminutive Liddy climbs bamboo steamers for a taste and falls into a bowl, she’s made into a dumpling that “looked good enough to eat!” Saving herself from becoming the palace Empress’s first bite, Liddy joins the feast before falling asleep on a warm bun—and waking ready to experience Dim Sum Palace. Retaining hand-worked textures, digitally colored graphite illustrations combine an expressive heroine with a mildly menacing scenario to winningly whimsical effect. Protagonists cue as East Asian. Ages 3–7.

October 1, 2023

Gr 1-3-Liddy is so excited that her family is going out for dim sum that she can't sleep the night before. Or so she thinks-but readers may take a different view as delicious odors draw her out of her bedroom and all the way to a night kitchen where chefs are making "baos, buns and bowls of congee! Dumplings, shumai and lots of sweet treats!" There, being tiny, Liddy falls into a bowl of dumpling filling, is served to an empress who just in time hears her calling, "STOP! Don't eat me!" and chows down on yummy dim sum until she really does fall asleep. Liddy and all of the other figures in the illustrations are not only themselves as round as dumplings but also smile infectiously to give this outing a properly cheery, festive tone. And even if the next day there is no empress at the real Dim Sum Palace, "The food tasted better than in her wildest dreams." To further tempt young foodies, Fang opens and closes with a gallery of labeled dim sum treats. Liddy remains clothed throughout, but otherwise parallels in both the story and art make this delectable debut well worth dishing up with Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen as parts of a themed story hour. VERDICT A savory delight for young readers who enjoy dreaming about food as much as eating it.-John Edward Peters

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
Liddy's excitement about a family trip to the Dim Sum Palace keeps her wide awake. "Is it a real palace? Will I meet an empress?" Getting out of bed, she follows a delicious smell that leads her to the very establishment "and into a kitchen where she found two busy chefs making dim sum." Liddy is small, and the nighttime kitchen, its dim sum wonders, and the two chefs are huge, an entertaining homage to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. She falls into a bowl of dumpling filling and is "folded and pinched" until "she looked good enough to eat!" In fact, she's served to the Empress; luckily, Liddy catches the Empress's attention and, instead of being eaten, is welcomed as a guest. The story's heartwarming ending embraces the magic of family and the joy of sharing meals. Fang's playful storytelling and vibrant illustrations capture the essence of childhood wonder and imagination. The beautifully decorated endpapers showcase forty different dim sum dishes, further immersing readers in the culinary experience. A delightful celebration of food, culture, and family traditions.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)