Tawan the Sun Girl released by Chay Douangphouxay

Tawan the Sun Girl, written by Chay Douangphouxay and illustrated by Alex Kuno has been released.

The description is as follows: "Before a Lao child is born, the child’s parents spend endless nights trying to think of the perfect name. Once the name is carefully and lovingly chosen, the child must strive to live up to that name. If the child is successful, it will bring great honor and joy to the family. But if the child fails, it can bring much sadness and misfortune. Each of the characters in Tawan: The Sun Girl has been given a special and meaningful name. Their names were given as a guide to help them become better people. But when the true test of life comes knocking on their door, will Tawan, Din, Nom, and Prince Jaiboun choose to live up to their names?"

This book has been released as part of the Reading Together Project, which seeks to address the lack of children’s books that speak to the experience of being an Asian Pacific Islander (API) child or youth in the United States. The project supports the development of English literacy skills while recognizing cultural heritage, and creating opportunities for children and families to learn about API cultural heritage together.

Chay Douangphouxay is a Lao-Khmer American artist/activist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ms. Douangphouxay uses her art to educate and inspire others to advocate for their communities. Her first solo chapbook, Remission: Finding Light In the Midst of Social Darkness was released as part of the 2012 Legacy Fellowship Grant and has been widely utilized as a national educational tool on issues of class, gender, and race. Chay is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Twin Cities Chapter of NAPAWF, a national organization working to forge a grassroots progressive movement to advance social justice and human rights for Asian-Pacific Islander (API) women and girls.

The Minnesota Humanities Center's collaborative work with the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans (CAPM) focuses on amplifying missing narratives from the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, increasing access and building upon the excellence of arts and cultural programs, and building capacity.