Beginner Reader

Twins Ling and Ting ("not exactly the same") share a birthday, including presents and cake.

I love Grace Lin's picture books and middle grade novels, but I find Ling and Ting boring and repetitive. There are more interesting early readers out there. ( )

This book is about a set of twins' birthday, Ling & Ting, and is divided into six very short stories. The author explains that they are twins and share many things including a birthday. In the six stories, Ling and Ting get presents, buy presents for one another, and prepare for their birthday. Along the way, they are faced with scenarios when they decide to share with one another, and that they like being twins who share and love one another. This book really emphasizes the importance of wanting to share instead having to share. I think this is important for all children, but especially twins who have no choice. The examples they give and how fun and appealing they make sharing look, is a universal truth that would be received by any reader. The artwork is cute and bright. Birthdays are always a fun topic. As a twin, I'm not a big fan of how much emphasis is put on the sisters being the same. As a child, I really strived to prove that my sister and I were individuals. Still, I like the idea of this book and wish it had been around when I was a child. ( )

Ling and Ting, the twin sisters who first appeared in Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same, return in this second collection of stories devoted to their adventures, this time experiencing the many joys of their shared birthday. Whether it be exchanging the shoes given to them as birthday presents, so that they each have one red and one green shoes, or splitting the cake made by Ling, when Ting's effort in that vein proves unsuccessful, these sisters share a close and loving bond, despite their small differences. In the end, both are glad to share a birthday with the other...

With its heartwarming tale of two siblings who share (almost) everything, and its charming stylized illustrations, Ling and Ting Share a Birthday is a worthy follow-up to the first volume about these two sisters. I got a chuckle out of the second story, in which Ling and Ting buy one another birthday gifts, each selecting something they themselves want, in the hopes that their twin will share it with them. The artwork, done in gouache on watercolor paper, and inspired by 1950s children's textbook illustrations, was colorful and appealing. Recommended to beginning readers looking for entertaining titles, as well as to any fans of these characters' first book. ( )

This book is great for one of the first chapter books that a child would read. The chapters are different parts of the story. Each chapter has its own theme. They book has them broken up into parts of a celebrating a birthday. For example,there was one about birthday shoes. The author is very descriptive about the characters and what they are doing in each chapter. The characters were very believable. They are a set of twins that go on different adventures. The illustrations really had the audience imagine that they were in the story with them. The book pushes the readers to think about their birthday. The author wants you to think back to when you were throwing a birthday party or attended one.