The Brainstorm Plus: Brainstorm 294: Books Set in Thailand

It's Thai Day at our school, a day we set aside to celebrate Thai culture, so I thought it would be a great time to share books set in Thailand. Last year on Thai Day I shared several books that feature Thai settings and culture, so I haven't repeated any of those. Click on the titles of the books to see my full review for each one, including any content notes/trigger warnings.

Can You Guess? (Animals of Thailand) by Janice Santikarn

Ten riddle-type spreads of rhyming text are each followed by the collage illustrations of the Thai animal they describe.

Target Readers:
Animal Lovers, Puzzle/Riddle Fans, Thai Setting Fans, Thai Wildlife Fans, Picture Book Readers

Every Month Is a New Year: Celebrations around the World by Marilyn Singer, ill. by Susan L. Roth

A collection of poems that look at different traditional New Year's celebrations around the world, arranged by the month in which they most frequently occur.

Along with the spread for the poem and an accompanying collage, there's further information about each celebration in the back of the book. Flip to the month of April for Thailand’s Songkran festival which used to be the start of the Thai new year.

Target Readers:
Poetry Fans, Global Holiday Studiers, Curious Readers, Lower Grade/Middle Grade Readers

From the Tops of the Trees by Kao Kalia Yang, ill. by Rachel Wada

A picture book memoir of the author's first couple of years when she lived in a refugee camp in Thailand and asked her father if the refugee camp was the whole world. To show her that there was much more beyond the camp, he helped her climb up a tree and see beyond the fence.

This is brief in scope but shows how restrictive life in a refugee camp can be for small children. The back of the book shares more info about the author's Hmong family and their experiences after the Vietnam war.

Target Readers:
Refugee Story Fans, Memoir Fans, Hmong Life Story Fans, History Studiers, Thailand Setting Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Picture Book Readers

I Do Not Trust You by Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz

M thought her father was dead until a young man shows up saying her father is alive but is being held by the cult of Set until he can translate a map of hyroglyphics they think will lead them to a disassembled statue of their god that will bring him back to Earth when put together. The young man, Ash, is from the cult of Horus, pledged to make sure that the cult of Set doesn't bring back their god and destroy the Earth. He wants the original map from M. M isn't sure about these gods and cults, but she knows how to read the map. She's also not letting it out of her sight. She thinks that if she and Ash find the parts of the statue they can use them as leverage to release her father. So they are off on a huge round-the-world treasure hunt following a cryptic ancient map, and neither one knows if they can completely trust the other.

This global treasure hunt goes all over the world, from Paris to Italy and more, but ends in Thailand, and the story includes an impressively accurate description of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport before it travels to the Thai countryside for the grand finale.

Target Readers:
Global Treasure Hunt Story Fans, Mystery/Puzzle Fans, Thriller Fans, Mythological Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Egyptian Mythology Studiers/Fans, Adventure Fans, Non-Mushy YA Fans, Young Adult Readers

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

Sai is the daughter of a pickpocket with no hope of any kind of future. But thanks to a few months of schooling during which she discovered a talent for penmanship, she has landed herself an apprenticeship with a master mapmaker. Now that the war is over and Mangkon is victorious, the Queen is turning her sights towards exploration. There is a competition with a reward in cash or status elevation for the boat crew that can map the areas beyond their current maps. But there are rumors the competition is for something more, the discovery of whether the mythical continent of the Sunderlands is real or not. But the same myths say the continent lies on the other side of the perilous Harbinger Sea and is guarded by the vicious slake. Will this voyage be the making of her future or a deadly mistake?

This Thai-inspired fantasy written by a Thai American author just won a Newbery Honor this year!

Target Readers:
Thai-Inspired Fantasy Fans, Reimagined History Fans, Sea Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Mythical Creature Fans, Award Winner Readers, Middle Grade Readers

Peek!: a Thai Hide-and-Seek by Minfong Ho, ill. by Holly Meade

A little girl and her father play hide-n-seek around their house located in the Thai jungle. Father goes around asking the animals if they've seen his little girl. As the animals get scarier, the father gets more concerned and finally calls a stop to the game to make sure the little girl is ok.

This book is set in a modern Thai jungle estate (it looks like the family is on vacation in Khao Yai or Kanchanaburi). The animals are ones typical to Thai jungle areas, and each of the animals make their sounds according to Thai tradition. So for example, the rooster, instead of saying "cock-a-doodle doo" says "eechy-eehcy-egg."