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In this post, we feature author Jacqueline Chio-Lauri. You can hear her speak about her debut picture book, Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup, which has been named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. You can also try her “invitation to imagine” activity and find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup
- Written by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri and illustrated by Kristin Sorra
- Published by Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group
- Release date: April 2, 2024
In this mouthwatering story, a man is determined to create a delicious soup and win the hand of his true love. Rejected by the parents of the girl he loves for being poor, Ma Mon Luk strikes out from China and boards a steamship headed for the Philippines in 1918. He vows to make a fortune and return for his beloved. Ma creates a chicken noddle soup he calls mami—”ma” for his name and “mi” for noodles—and peddles it as a street vendor. He eventually earns enough to open his own restaurant and wins the approval of the parents of his true love. Joyful illustrations from award-winning illustrator Kristin Sorra and heartwarming text from debut picture book author Jacqueline Chio-Lauri blend together to create a delicious story about creativity, perseverance, and the perfect bowl of soup.
![An interior spread from Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup. On the lefthand side, one picture shows a man making noodles by hand; below he carries noodle soup in wooden buckets supported by a pole across his shoulders. On the righthand side, he serves noodle soup to customers on the street.](https://forum.teachingbooks.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/interior-Mami-1.jpg)
![An interior spread from Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup showing Ma Mon Luk carrying noodle food and cooking supplies through the streets.](https://forum.teachingbooks.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/interior-Mami-2.jpg)
Explore Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup
Listen to Jacqueline Chio-Lauri talking with TeachingBooks about creating Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.
- Listen to author Jacqueline Chio-Lauri pronounce her name.
- Sample an e-book of Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup on Overdrive.com.
- Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup.
Invitation to Imagine
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TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri.
Imagination Activity with Jacqueline Chio-Lauri
Imagine if you, like Ma Mon Luk, have to earn money as a street vendor. What would you sell? Why? How would you create it? How would you sell it? What tools or simple machines would you use to make the work easier for you? What would you do, not only to make money, but also to make a positive impact in your community?
Finish This Sentence . . . with Jacqueline Chio-Lauri
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As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Jacqueline Chio-Lauri’s response.
“A surprising thing that helps me work is…”
A surprising thing that helps me work is getting into the shower. At first, I thought it was weird. Why do brilliant ideas bubble up while I’m taking a shower? Why not when I’m at my desk? Well, I found out that it’s not really strange at all. Brain scientists say that people are more likely to get “aha moments” when doing habitual tasks that don’t require much thought, such as taking a shower. That’s because creative ideas usually come up when your mind is relaxed. So, when I’m stuck and not getting anywhere with my work, I’ve learned to switch off, give my brain a break and do other things.
“While working on this latest project, I was surprised to learn that…”
While working on this latest project, I was surprised to discover or learn that the oldest Chinatown in the world is Manila’s Chinatown in Binondo. It was established in 1594 by the Spanish, who ruled the Philippines at that time. It was a place where Chinese immigrants, who had become Catholics by force, were ordered to settle. The Chinatown was located across the river from a walled city. It was positioned so that colonial rulers could keep a close eye on the growing Chinese population in the city.
Thank you!
To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Jacqueline Chio-Lauri for signing a book for all of us.
![The title page from Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup, signed by the author, Jacqueline Chio-Lauri.](https://forum.teachingbooks.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/signed-Mami.jpg)
More Connections to Jacqueline Chio-Lauri and Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup
- Discover books like Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup on TeachingBooks.
- Lerner’s page about Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup, written by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri and illustrated by Kristin Sorra.
- Buy Mami King: How Ma Mon Luk Found Love, Riches, and the Perfect Bowl of Soup, written by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri and illustrated by Kristin Sorra.
All text and images are courtesy of Jacqueline Chio-Lauri, Kristin Sorra, and Lerner Publishing Group and may not be used without expressed written consent.
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