But seriously...

Did you know that humor has been shown to boost retention in learning? 

Did you know that the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Lanuages) reserves "understanding most jokes and puns" for their absolute highest ("Distinguished") proficiency level? 

This 米小圈脑筋急转弯 (mǐ xiǎo quān nǎo jīn jí zhuǎn wān) Mi Xiao Quan Brain Teasers set is a companion to the wildly popular 米小圈上学记 (mǐ xiǎo quān shàng xué jì) Mi Xiao Quan's School Experience set. 

In this Brainteaser set, the funny, playful elementary school boy Mi Xiao Quan, invites young readers to enjoy jokes and brain teasers.

Each book divides the brain teasers into three competitive levels. The beginning of each level starts with a brief story about Mi Xiao Quan to set the stage. 

These books are designed to be portable (5.69 in X 6.75 in) (15cm X 17cm), so that kids can keep them on hand for frequent reference or to enjoy in their snippets of free time. (Dare we say it, these books would make great restroom readers for older kids!)

Each page contains a joke or brain teaser whose answer is revealed on the next page. Both the brain teasers and the answers are illustrated in color with limited text. 

These illustrated jokes and brain teasers are not only a must-have bridge book series to prepare your child for more advanced chapter book reading, but also a great peek into Chinese language and modern Chinese culture. All primary school age children that JoJo interviewed in China, boys or girls, recommended the Mi Xiao Quan series as some of their favorite books. 

Examples of the jokes and brain teasers: 

• 什么事你明明没有做，却要受罚？-家庭作业  (What thing do you get punished for even when you obviously did not do it?-Homework)
• 
  
• 什么人最不怕冷？-雪人(What "person" is not scared of being cold? -Snow person (snowman))
• 三面墙一面空，小孩子在当中。（打一字）-匹(What is the Chinese character: three solid walls, and one missing wall, inside, a little kid (儿） stand tall.  -匹)

Book titles:

Is my child ready for this set?

"Read to me":
Ages 6+ will enjoy having these books read to them either by Luka® or a caregiver.

"Read by myself":
The limited text per page and the prevalence of common language make it a good "bridge book" for readers. The involved plot and detailed illustrations will capture the interest of experienced readers ages 6+. 

Option to pair with Luka®:
Consider adding Luka®, the reading robot, to your order. Luka® reads 70,000 books in Mandarin Chinese! ​
​
Set Luka® in front of the book, and it will read aloud any page your child turns to-- creating a unique, independent physical book reading experience even if your child isn't ready to read by themselves. 

Happy learning!