Little Bird Laila, Kelly Yang
Little Bird Laila, Kelly Yang
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Little Bird Laila

Author: Kelly Yang

Narrator: Sunny Lu

Unabridged: 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/15/2025

Categories: Children's Fiction

Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, Kelly Yang and Xindi Yan, is a joyful story of a Chinese American girl translating for her immigrant parents

Laila knows how clever, kind, and funny her Mama and Baba are—but sometimes they need her help translating things from English. With English classes being too expensive, Laila decides to become her parents’ teacher, even though she’s just learning the language too. There’s lots that Laila knows (like you don’t pronounce the t in ballet) but there’s so much she doesn’t know too. Together, they embrace the joy and struggles of learning a new language.

About The Author

Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the picture book Yes We Will, the middle grade New From Here, the Front Desk series, and the young adult novels Parachutes and Private Label. Her books have earned multiple awards, including the 2019 APALA Award for Children’s Literature, the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal, and multiple best of the year lists, and her writing has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly immigrated to the United States when she was six years old and grew up in Southern California. Today, she and her family live in Los Angeles.Xindi Yan left behind a small city in China to realize her dream of being a published artist. She received her BFA in Illustration from New York’s Pratt Institute and has since worked as an illustrator for the gaming industry and children’s media in addition to illustrating many picture books, including the New York Times bestseller Busy Betty by Reese Witherspoon. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Katie on May 30, 2025

I found this book on the “New and Popular” shelf at my local library. It tells the story of Laila, who must translate for her parents, who only speak Chinese. At first, it makes her feel special, but she gets teased, and it is time-consuming. Her parents can’t afford English lessons, so Laila decide......more

Goodreads review by K.C. on December 21, 2025

This is so sweet. 😭......more

Goodreads review by Mariann on June 06, 2025

Might be my top picture book read of the year this far! A child's perspective on helping her parents as a translator and deciding herself to help them learn English. It's been a long time since a picture book almost choked me up, both from the beautifully, lovingly written storyline and from the rel......more

Goodreads review by Kimberly on May 02, 2025

2-3 short sentences per page. K-1st? About a girl who teaches her parents English and her parents continue to teach her Chinese. It starts with a parent-teacher conference where the girl has to translate everything into Chinese for her folks, and then the book ends with another update with her teach......more

Goodreads review by Jared on April 28, 2025

Laila is her momma's little bird, always whispering in her ear to help her understand all of the English written and spoken around them. Her parents want to learn, but the classes cost too much money. "People say America is free, but it's actually really expensive," so Laila takes it on herself to b......more

Quotes

★ "Insightful and inspiring, Little Bird Laila soars." —Booklist, starred review

"An immigrant story imbued with sweetness and hope." —Kirkus

"As the winning, bright-eyed protagonist takes the lead, Yang and Yan focus on sunny, funny moments while lightly acknowledging that 'it’s not easy teaching old birds new tricks.'" —Publishers Weekly

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