Ten Little Dumplings is the story of a family with ten boys. The brothers do everything together:

Ten getting ready in the morning.
Ten playing by the old fish pond.
Ten eating rice at the big round table.

In this scene, they are celebrating Lunar New Year with a traditional feast. You may be able to spot some of your favourite dishes (mine is dumplings, of course)! And if you look carefully, you can see there is another member of the family who appears more prominently later in the book.

Eating together as a family nourishes not just the body but also the soul. It’s especially fun if you make something everyone can participate in. One of my favourite childhood memories is cooking hot pot at the table. The bubbling hot pot was in the middle surrounded by mounded plates of all the raw ingredients. It was such a treat for me and my brothers to each get to choose which ingredients we wanted to put in! Somehow it made the food taste even better.

Dumplings of course are another great participatory meal. I was wrapping dumplings from a young age, gradually improving my technique and the number of pleats. Today making and eating dumplings together is still one of my family’s favourite activities. I hope you will have an opportunity to gather with your family this New Year, even if it has to be virtual. And perhaps you’ll eat some dumplings for good luck!