A BOWL OF BITTER TEA AND A PIECE OF ROCK CANDY

A humorous and heartfelt tale about the bitterness of liangcha, a popular tea from traditional Chinese medicine, and the sweetness of a Waipo (grandmother)

Liangcha translated as cooling tea is an herbal tea from southern China that nourishes the body by keeping it cool, especially handy for summer's hottest days. However, liangcha is STINKY and BITTER, and little Mimi can't stand to drink it, even though Mimi's doting Waipo makes her fresh homemade liangcha every day. In this beautifully illustrated, Chinese-themed take on how a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, we follow a spunky Mimi as she does everything within her power to not to drink Waipo's liangcha, only to realize that she is rejecting Waipo's caring love by doing so. By the end, Waipo and Mimi meet in the middle and delight in a sweet antidote to the bitterness. This book is about two different flavors of love. Other marketing points: a little knowledge about TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), and intergenerational love between a grandmother and granddaughter. Not to mention: gorgeous illustrations. Yan Gu is an illustrator from Shanghai. She graduated from RISD in 2022. In her free time, she loves plein-air painting. A BOWL OF BITTER TEA AND A PIECE OF ROCK CANDY is her first picture book