by Emma Chen
illustrated by Sean Huang
Red Deer Press, 2024
ISBN 978-0889956889 (hc)
$23.95, 24 pp, ages 5 – 8
reddeerpress.com
Based on a personal experience with her own daughter, Emma Chen has created this touching immigration story. Molly and her parents have just moved from China to a new home in Canada. Her grandmother also accompanied Molly on the trip and stayed with the family during the initial transition period. After six months, her visa was up, and the visit came to an end. As the story begins, Molly is missing her grandmother (Nainai) and is overwhelmed by the distance between them. A video chat initially seems to emphasize the distance even more until Nainai begins to sing Molly a lullaby.
Classroom Connections: Molly Misses Nainai would make a great read-aloud for primary students and provide many points at which students can make connections to their own lives. Other reading comprehension strategies that could apply to this book are questioning, inferring, and predicting.
Review by Brenda Boreham.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2024 issue.