Asianmommy Reviews

Little Dragon Tales:  Chinese Children's Songs is a CD made by Cheng & Tsui, featuring 12 classic Chinese kids' songs with a modern flair.  The songs are produced by The Shanghai Restoration Project and sung by Yip's Children's Choir Canada, accompanied by electronic music.  Asianmommy received a free copy of this CD for review.

I recognize many of the songs from my childhood, including "Zhao pengyou (Making Friends)," "Ni Wawa (Clay Doll)," "Liang zhi Laohu (Two Tigers)," and "Gongxi gongxi (Congratulations)," which is perfect for celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year.

To see these kids in action, you can visit their website at http://littledragontales.com/.  So cute!

What I liked:  The CD is full of fun songs that the whole family can enjoy.  The music is modernized with a catchy beat.  I think it's a great way to get kids excited about learning Chinese.

What could be improved:  I would love to hear more from this group!

Asianmommy.com was given a free download of Chef Jeff’s cookbook entitled dinneRevolution:  “Healthy and Modern Recipes Made Simply with 10 Ingredients or Less in Under 30 Minutes.”  That’s a pretty tall order, and something that I think every mom could use.  Honestly, getting dinner on the table every night is not so easy when you have to get the kids to after school activities and help with homework all the time.

Chef Jeff Pirtle offers over 200 recipes in this collection.  The sections include Poultry, Seafood, Pork, Beef, and Side dishes.  Here are some recipes that I'd like to try:  Thai Cucumber Salad, Sweet & Sour Carrots, Thai Beef Skewers, Vegetarian Pad Thai, Shrimp Stir-Fry, Grilled Salmon with Sesame-Ginger Glaze, Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing, Sweet & Sour Mandarin Chicken with Cashews, Chinese Chicken Salad, Asian Turkey Burgers, and Asian BBQ Chicken. 

What I liked:  The recipes seem to be easy to follow.  I also like that the Nutritional Information is provided for each recipe.

What could be improved:  Some recipes may be too simple, such as the one for Roasted Sweet Potatoes, which doesn’t tell you if you should cut or peel the sweet potatoes before mixing them with salt, sugar, pepper, garlic powder, and oil.  Seems like you should, right?

You can check out the cookbook yourself.  Click to get your free copy of dinneRevolution, courtesy of Chef Jeff.

Asianmommy.com received a free sample of the Bounce Free Dryer Bar through the BlogHer - Bounce Sampling Program.  It was simple to use--just had to remove the paper backing and stick the bar on the dryer wall and run the dryer as usual. 

My clothes came out smelling fresh and clean with no static, and now I don't have to remember to throw in a dryer sheet with each load.  One bar lasts about 3 months, so I'll have to remember to replace it when needed.

What I liked:  The Bounce Free dryer bar is free of dyes and perfumes, works great, and makes my life a little easier.

What could be improved:  The first time I used the dryer bar, it left a few white spots on my black pants.  The spots came out easily when I put the pants through the washer/dryer a second time.  This hasn't happened again with subsequent dryer loads, so the next time I use a new dryer bar for the first time, I would probably do a light-colored load first.

"Tikki Tikki Tembo...and More Stories to Celebrate Asian Heritage"  is a new DVD from Scholastic Storybook Treasures coming out on April 26, 2011--just in time for Asian Heritage Month in May.  This 66-minute DVD contains a set of 6 Asian-themed storybooks read aloud with simple animation and accompanying music.  Half of the stories are narrated by the soothing voice of B. D. Wong (Law & Order:  SVU, Oz).  The last story is narrated by Ming-Na Wen (ER, Stargate Universe).  Asianmommy.com received a free copy of this DVD for review. 

The stories include:

Tikki Tikki Tembo By Arlene Mosel--a story set in anceint China about two brothers, one with a very, very long name and one with a very short name.  Which one do you think is luckier when a crisis comes up?

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson--a Japanese Folk tale about two kind-hearted servants, who risk their lives to save a pair of Mandarin ducks.

Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say--a lovely story of a man's grandfather, who lived in Japan, traveled to the US, became homesick, and returned home again, only to long for greener pastures once again.

The Stonecutter by Gerald McDermott--a Japanese folk tale of a lowly stonecutter with neverending greed for more & more power.

Lon Po Po:  A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young--a story of 3 sisters, left alone in the house one night to defend themselves against a clever & hungry wolf.

Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn--a touching story of a child, who although tempted by toys and sweets, chooses to spend his Chinese New Year money with compassion.

The kids were very excited to see this DVD, and they truly enjoyed the stories.  I had never heard of these stories before, and I enjoyed them, too.   The DVD is recommended for children ages 3-10.  However, I was concerned that the kids might be afraid of the near-drowning of the children in the well or the impending execution of the servants or the servants getting lost in the dark & scary woods, and especially the hungry wolf climbing into bed with the children, but those things didn't seem to bother them at all. 

What I liked:  These interesting, Asian-themed stories are new to us and very enjoyable.  I liked the various themes of kindness, compassion, longing, and bravery in the different stories.  There was a lesson to be learned in each one.  My favorite story was Grandfather's Journey, a touching remembrance of one's homeland.  The kids didn't have a favorite story.  They liked them all.

What could be improved:  A minor point, but while I appreciated the Read Along captioning, the words were sometimes hard to read, as they filled in with color (as in Karaoke) a beat or two after the words were spoken. 

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Enter for a chance to win the Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD "Tikki Tikki Tembo...and more stories to celebrate Asian heritage!"

Simply leave a comment on this post naming one of your favorite storybooks.

This giveaway is only open to US residents.  One entry per person.  Contest ends at midnight CST on April 26, 2011.  A random winner will be selected.  Please be sure to enter an email address (to be kept confidential) so I can contact the winner.  The winner has 3 days to claim their prize.  Thanks for entering!

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Congratulations to SoKnitpicky, the winner of our contest!