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New York - Chinatown and Little Italy

    Little Italy –
Little Italy
    Mulberry St. is the heart of Little Italy, the Italian section of New York. In the 19th century, immigrants from Italy lived in these neighborhoods, and today Little Italy is still chockablock with fun places to eat. Any of time of day, you can sit down at a table for pasta or panini, grab a slice of pizza or gelato (ice cream) and cannoli.
      One of our favorite bakery cafes is Ferrara, 195 Grand Ave., between Mulberry and Mott Sts.
      DeSalvio playground (Mulberry and Spring St.) – Charming little neighborhood playground with climbing structures, benches and shade on a warm day, and in summer, sprinklers and a small water play area.
      The last two weeks of September is a big street festival, honoring San Gennaro, with parades, food stands and performers.
    Lower East Side Tenement Museum (103 Orchard St. ) – Late 19th century, the Lower East Side was filled with Italian, German and Jewish immigrants, living in crowded. apartments, whole families crammed into three rooms. At the Tenement Museum, kids can get a first-hand experience of how families lived in five different apartments, each restored with furnishings and clothing. This museum is a real eye opener.
    Chinatown –
Chinatown
    Mott and Canal Streets, the center of Chinatown, are filled with shops and restaurants. This is a great place for kids to spend their money. Shops have jade jewelry, Chinese embroidered clothes, "singing cricket" toys, zodiac animals. And be sure to enjoy a meal in one of many restaurants, especially dim sum is fun for everyone in the family. For a treat, stop into the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory (Bayard St.), for delicious ice cream and unusual flavors (such as red bean, almond cookie, ginger).
      Columbus Park – This park has a great playground, with swings, slides, and climbing structures, and lots of benches for parents to relax.
kids books chinatown new york city
     
My Chinatown childrens books new york city  
My Chinatown
Kam Mak

Gorgeous paintings and poems express the memories and excitement of Chinatown in New York – glimmering lanterns for the Moon Festival, a colorful kite shop, fresh fruits and live fish for sale on the street, dancing lions on New Year’s Day. (Picture book)

 

     

Families celebrate Chinese New Year – sweep away the old year, cook special dishes, get a haircut, put on a new dress, enjoy a New Year's feast, and carry lanterns to light the way. (Picture book)

 

 
Bringing in the New Year kids books chinese new year chinatown new york city
     
Dragon Dance  
Dragon Dance
Joan Holub, Benrei Huang

Charming "lift the flap" book about Chinese New Year, with irresistible illustrations. Great for little kids. (Picture book)

Also fun for toddlers My First Chinese New Year

 

     
The Great Race
Christopher Corr

In the Chinese calendar, each year is named after twelve different animals – rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. Delightful retelling of how the Chinese zodiac was created, and why there is no year of the cat. (Picture book)

 

 
     
lunar tale  
Lunar Tale
Stella Hong

Go on a Lunar New Year adventure with twelve magical zodiac friends – through tea gardens, bamboo groves, meadows, to the sparkling city, with a temple honoring the ancestors, big family reunion, ending with dragon dance in Chinatown. Delightfully illustrated! (Board book)

 

     

Every week, extended family gets together to eat dim sum – shrimp dumplings, rice noodle rolls, egg tarts, char siu buns, and more. They gather around a table that goes round and round in the center, servers zoom by with baskets full of food. Grandma sips jasmine tea, all dishes are shared, will the little girl ever get a char siu bun, her favorite – peel off the paper, break the bun in half … Yum! (Picture book)

 

 
dim sum here we come
     
childrens books food chinatown new york city Dim Sum for Everyone!  

"Little dishes on carts, little dishes on tables," dim sum is fun for everyone in the family – Ma-Ma likes pork buns, Ba-Ba eats fried shrimp, Mei-Mei picks sweet tofu. A charming story, plus a picture glossary of dim sum dishes. (Picture book)

 

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