Books, videos, and websites for Third Culture Kids
Aimee is a missionary kid living in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) where it always seems like it’s going to rain but it never actually does. On her birthday she runs through the village inviting friends to her party who tell her that the rain is finally coming. They move her birthday party inside just before the rain comes pouring down. This was actually written by an MK from Zaire and she portrays the sights and sounds beautifully.
Reading level: age 3-8 years
This is a story about a Japanese boy’s first Christmas. A Japanese mother who was born and raised in California decorates a Christmas tree and shares her childhood experiences of Christmas with her young son in Japan. It’s actually the story of the author and his mother, by the same author of Grandfather’s Journey and Tea with Milk.
Reading level: age 4-9 years
Missionary kids John and Lisa are glad to get back to Japan after furlough in America. Although they are sad to leave their relatives, they enjoy moving into their new house, making friends with the neighbor kids, and eating familiar Japanese food. Later, their family travels from their home in Sapporo in the north all the way to the southern city of Nagasaki, visiting various cities along the way. This is basically a coloring book with a storyline about the life of two MKs. Activities are interspersed throughout the book (e.g. mazes, crosswords, word searches, Japanese character writing, dot-to-dot). There is also an accompanying Parent/Teacher Guide that gives more information on Japan and gives lesson plans for five lessons, suitable for a children’s missions conference or a similar event.
Reading level: age 6-9 years
Side-by-side pictures illustrate the same story line, showing similarities and differences between the lives of two boys, one in a western town and one in a rural African village. The words for both stories are the same and run through the middle of the page. The text is very simple, but the details in the pictures are delightful and could captivate kids and grown-ups. This is a great book for discussion since it helps kids develop observation skills and see another way of life.
Reading level: age 4-8 years
This beautifully illustrated book is inspired by the poem Brown Girl Dreaming and describes what it’s like for a child to be different from the other kids in her classroom. Whether it’s in looks, accent, what she eats or the kinds of stories she tells, it’s difficult to feel alone and apart. “The Day You Begin” encourages kids to tell their stories and look out for others who may be different as well, even if they aren’t the same kind of different as them.
Reading level: age 5-8 years
Loosely a sequel to Chinese Children Next Door, this story is a little bit longer and focuses more on the experience of the American child than on teaching about Chinese culture. In this book Mother surprises her children with a Chinese meal, complete with chopsticks. As they eat she tells them a story about when, as a little girl, she found a white stone that she thought might be
magic and her subsequent adventure with two Chinese children and their water buffalo. Also out of print for a long time (published in the 1943), this book is hard to find.
Reading level: age 7-10 years