Children's book
Mei Li & The Moon Bunny
Mei Li & The Moon Bunny by Meili Zhen
1) “Mei Li ah, it is time to wake up! Jo san! Good morning!” Mama called.
2) “Jo san, mama,” Mei Li said quietly from her bed.
Mei Li was tired because she stayed up late in excitement thinking about her first day of school. “I can’t wait to make a new friend!” she exclaimed in quiet eagerness.
3) Mei Li rose out of bed, brushed her teeth, and got dressed in her favorite outfit that made her feel her very best: red overalls with a bunny sitting on the moon.
4) “Mei Li ah, sik fan ah! Time to eat!” Baba called from the kitchen.
5) “Jook! My favorite!” Mei Li cheered with a smile on her face.
6) After eating, Mei Li grabbed her backpack and Mama placed Mei Li’s lunchbox in it.
7) With Mama in the passenger seat and Mei Li sitting comfortably in her car seat, Baba drove to Mei Li’s new school.
8) “Have a good first day!” Baba and Mama said to Mei Li after a big group hug and watched her slowly disappear from their sight.
9) “Why do you look sad, Mei Li ah?” Baba asked.
10) He picked Mei Li up from school by himself and noticed Mei Li’s smile was missing and seemed to be replaced with an upside down one.
11) “I don’t want to talk about it right now, Baba,” Mei Li said quietly.
12) The day fell into night quickly.
13) Mei Li, Mama, and Baba ate dinner quietly and everyone got ready for bed afterwards.
14) Mama came into Mei Li’s room to comfort her after Baba told Mama about Mei Li’s missing smile.
15) “I don’t want to talk about it right now, Mama,” Mei Li said quietly into her pillow.
16) “Okay ah, I understand. If you change your mind, you tell Mama or Baba, okay?”
“Hai, yes, Mama.”
17) “Okay ah. Mommy loves you. Goodnight.” Mama gave Mei Li a kiss on her cheek.
“I love you too, Mama. Goodnight.” Mei Li smiled softly. Mama turned the lights off and closed Mei Li’s bedroom door.
18) “Why do you look so sad, Mei Li ah?” a soft voice said. Mei Li immediately opened her eyes wide and looked around her room in a panic.
19) “I’m up here! Look outside your window!” the voice said. Mei Li slowly and carefully peeked out her window.
20) She gasped. “I know you! Mama and Baba used to tell me stories every night about you before bed!”
21) “Yes! I am Jade, the Moon Bunny!” the voice exclaimed. It was a large, white rabbit sitting on the moon all the way up in the sky, repeatedly pounding a bucket with a long stick.
22) “Are you hungry? Would you like a late night snack?”
Mei Li nodded politely.
23) “Open the window, quick!” Jade the Moon Bunny said.
In an instant, a small white block came flying straight into Mei Li’s hands. It was a sweet rice cake, one of Mei Li’s favorite treats.
24) “Thank you,” Mei Li said while biting into the dessert. Her smile reappeared!
25) “Why were you sad earlier?” asked the Moon Bunny.
26)“I didn’t make one new friend at school today…” Mei Li said quietly.
“How come?”
27)“I don’t know…they all looked scared of me when I offered to share my lunch,” Mei Li explained.
28) “I’m sorry,” said Jade. “Well, we’re friends now at least, right ah?”
Mei Li’s eyes lit up. “We are?”
“Yes! And as your friend, I can help you make more friends!”
“How?” Mei Li finished the last bit of the rice cake.
29) “Listen to me, I want you to close your eyes and go back to bed. When you wake up, you will see that I have left you a gift by your bed. You will know what to do with it because your parents taught you to have a big heart. But promise me as your friend that if anyone asks you about where it came from, you will not tell them.”
30) Mei Li felt confused, but felt a sense of trust with the Moon Bunny, almost as if they were family. “I promise.”
31) “You are a great friend. We will see each other again soon, but until then, I hope you have a good night and a good day at school tomorrow.” Jade smiled and waved goodbye.
32) “Thank you for the treat and thank you for being my first friend here, Moon Bunny.” Mei Li smiled back and waved goodbye while Jade the Moon Bunny disappeared from the moon. Right away, Mei Li fell back asleep.
33) The sun had started to come out of hiding, and Mei Li slowly opened her eyes from sleep. Suddenly remembering what happened to her last night, she quickly turned to her side.
34) Five small rice cakes stood in front of her. They were shaped like small, sleeping bunnies.
Mei Li grew the biggest smile on her face.
35) “Why do you look so happy, Mei Li ah?” Baba asked Mei Li after school. Mei Li laughed.
36) “Bye-bye, Mei Li! See you tomorrow!” a small boy from afar said, munching on a bunny-shaped rice cake.
“Bye-bye, Jun Jun! See you tomorrow!” replied Mei Li, munching on a bunny-shaped rice cake.
37) “Hey, where did you get that? Did Mommy make that for you?” asked Baba.
38) Mei Li looked up at the sky.
39) “It’s a secret!” she said with a big smile.
Workshop Draft
04/24
Subject: Your Book
Premiere Topic: Who is the Main Character?
Subtopic Paragraph Answer #1 (3-5 sentences)
Subtopic Paragraph Answer #2 (3-5 sentences)
Subtopic Paragraph Answer #3 (3-5 sentences)
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Subject: Your Book
Premiere Topic: Finn the Human
Finn the Human is a 17 year old boy who lives with his dog brother, Jake. They both live in a treehouse together that they were originally squatting in. They have a little robot that they treat like a baby named BMO.
Finn the Human’s main concern is always doing good while going out to do heroic things. Even if things seemed justified, he will always do his best to save everyone, even at his own expense. In times like this, Jake’s wisdom and knowledge can be really helpful for Finn.
Finn’s friends include Princess Bubblegum, a princess made of bubblegum who has been alive for many years, and Marceline the Vampire Queen. Marceline is a half-vampire half-demon girl and she loves drinking red things instead of blood. With both Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, BMO, and Jake at Finn’s side, he is able to be supported through many of his adventures.
Brainstorm Ideas
Children’s book requirements:
The story, the intended audience, and depending how long the book is supposed to be anywhere from the entire book to a reasonable draft/outline of the text.
Illustrations are not needed but if you are an artist, go for it!
If you are really serious about this, use the opportunity to look into publishing outlets and submit details on what you find.
Think about writing the book you would have wanted to read as the kid version of you; or the book you would like the young people in your life to have access to; ask yourself, which kids are not seeing themselves in children's books and write that story!
~ 32 pages/16 spreads; 500-800 words.
Children’s book brainstorm ideas:
- Chinese character
rabbits/bunnies
moon
moon bunny/rice bunny
East Asian folklore of the Moon Rabbit
pounding rice cakes, or mochi in Japanese and Korean version
Chinese Moon Rabbit
typically depicted pounding herbs for elixirs/pounding elixir of life for Moon Goddess, Chang’e (companion)
- Filipinx character
- spooky ghost story?
- Aswang (shapeshifter, can turn into vampire, witch, ghoul, beast, etc.)
- friendly Aswang to child main character?