Celebrating Asian Heritage Month 2025
As Seen on CTV Your Morning
May is Asian heritage month! Asia is comprised of many different people, cultures, and experiences. Here is just a sampling of new Canadian books that celebrate Asian heritage, culture, and creators. Watch the segment online here at the 1.19.54 mark.
Picture Books, Ages 3-7
The Salt Princess is a big, bright retelling of a Pakistani folktale of the same name in which a vain King banishes his daughter when she compares her love for him to that of salt, something that offends his honour. There are versions of this tale around the world. In this version, author Anoosha Syed updates the narrative so that father and daughter reconcile. Two Urdu versions of the text are included in the back matter of the books.
In Sundays Are For Feasts, a young girl is asked to contribute to her family dinner by making the hummus for the first time. Yasmine visits her family in Lebanon every summer and is concerned about getting the hummus ‘right,’ an anxiety that is relatable to all kids who strive for perfection. Includes a recipe for hummus.
In What Lolo Wants, a grandfather and grandchild are connected by their shared love of drawing and traditional Filipino cuisine. When Lolo starts to forget words, Maria brings him paper and coloured pencils so he can draw what he wants. A tender story about art, family, and connection.
Chapter Books, Ages 6-9
Olive should be excited about her upcoming birthday party at trampoline park, but when her elderly neighbour Mrs. Ly is deliberately pushed on the street and her brother suffers anti-Asian taunts, she is feeling less than celebratory. Every Little Bit Olive Tran is a sensitive and accessible story for emerging readers about how a community bands together to respond to racist incidents with support, solidarity, and hope.
Middle Grade, Ages 9-12
The Legendary Mo Seto: Martial Arts Star is the second book about a young Taekwondo artist, Mo Seto. In this new adventure, she travels to Hong Kong to be part of a major martial arts movie. The combination of behind-the-scenes of a movie and a mystery surrounding an ancient book is both appealing and engaging for readers.
Are you a ghost having trouble crossing over? Spirit Service is here to help! In this warm, funny story, a group of enterprising middle school students discover a telephone that allows them to connect with ghosts and set up a business in order to raise funds for their school’s arts program. Featuring a diverse cast of characters, Spirit Service combines the best parts of The Babysitters Club with Ghostbusters.
Teen
Meet Me at Blue Hour is a love story that unfolds like a mystery. Yena is spending the summer in South Korea helping at her mother’s memory erasure clinic when she runs into her long lost best friend Lucas who disappeared from her life 4 years ago. Lucas has no memory of her, and together they attempt to piece together what happened. Delicate and moving love story with just a touch of the speculative.
Jamie Taher-Foster, a Palestinian-Canadian teen, loves a list. She has a list of all the things she wants to do with her boyfriend in Toronto before they leave for college. But when he dumps her, she hatches a ruse to get him back by fake-dating a handsome TikTok dancer. You Started It combines a the classic rom-com trope of ‘fake dating’ with a Toronto setting for teens (and adults) looking for a witty, homegrown romance.