Your child doesn't speak Chinese.
Neither do you.
That is exactly who these ten books are for. Every page has the character, the pinyin above it, and the English at the bottom — so a parent with zero Chinese can still read it aloud. The audio is free. The workbooks are free. Print editions are on Amazon.
The ten books
Read them in order — every book reuses every word that came before it, and adds only new ones.
你好！ Hello!
nǐ hǎo
Two children meet in a park, say their names, and become friends. The first 25 words a child needs to greet anyone.
Audio + workbook →我的家 My Family
wǒ de jiā
Xiaohong visits Xiaoming's home and meets the whole family — then counts how many people live there.
Audio + workbook →一二三 1 2 3
yī èr sān
Counting from one to ten, on fingers and on friends. Numbers stop being abstract.
Audio + workbook →红黄蓝 Colors
hóng huáng lán
A walk through a garden collecting colours — red flower, blue sky, green grass — and one balloon that escapes.
Audio + workbook →我吃 I Eat
wǒ chī
Rice, noodles, eggs, milk. Food words, and the first sentence pattern a child can use at the table.
Audio + workbook →小猫小狗 Cats & Dogs
xiǎo māo xiǎo gǒu
The cat disappears. The dog leads the way. Four animals and the verbs that describe how each one moves.
Audio + workbook →我的身体 My Body
wǒ de shēn tǐ
Feet, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands — and what each one is for. Body words through simple actions.
Audio + workbook →今天天气 Today's Weather
jīn tiān tiān qì
One rainy day, one snowy day, one sunny day. Weather words, and the small decision of whether to go out.
Audio + workbook →去学校 Go to School
qù xué xiào
The first day of school: the building, the books, the teacher, the classmates, and the walk home.
Audio + workbook →一起玩 Let's Play
yī qǐ wán
A ball, a race, a song. The last book brings the whole vocabulary together in one afternoon of play.
Audio + workbook →What you get on every book page
Read-aloud audio
A native speaker reads the whole book — word by word first, then the full sentences at a learning pace. Plays in the browser, no app.
Printable workbook
24 pages of tracing, matching, and picture-to-word exercises. A4, black and white, designed to be printed at home. Free — you just leave an email.
Print edition on Amazon
If you'd rather hold the book than print it, paperback and Kindle editions are on Amazon. The QR code inside opens this site.
All 141 words in one book
141 词 collects every word from the ten readers, four per page, with a picture, pinyin and English for each.
Why a graded series, not a flashcard deck
Flashcards teach words in isolation, and children forget them. These are continuous stories: Book 1 has a beginning and an end, using 25 words and nothing outside them. Book 2 uses those 25 words plus 15 new ones. By Book 10 a child is reading 141 words in sentences that mean something.
The rule we hold ourselves to: no word appears before it is taught, and no word is taught twice.It sounds obvious. It is the reason most beginner readers fail.
Start with Book 1
Twenty-five words. One story. Three minutes of audio. That is the whole first step.
Open Book 1 — free