Nobody can accuse Martha Keswick, author of children’s Putonghua book series Max & Mei, of complacency. While learning Putonghua for seven years at university in Singapore, Keswick wanted to pass the language on to her children, but was frustrated with the lack of Chinese learning material for expatriate kids. So she created a book series.

“The series is all about friendship, and Max and Mei being great companions,” the Singapore-based author says. From the friendship that blossoms between Max, the son of an expatriate, and Mei, a local Chinese girl, comes the chance for kids to learn the basics of Putonghua.

Whether Max and Mei encounter goats or red snakes, their adventures allow children to not only learn colours, numbers, and Chinese zodiac animals in Putonghua, but to do so through an engaging and empathetic storyline.

The new activity book also allows children to go along for the ride and show off what they’ve learned, whether it’s colouring Max’s hat blue or counting how many balloons Mei is holding in her hand.

“Mandarin is the language of the future,” says Keswick, who thinks children should be encouraged to learn the language. Using the simplified phonetics technique of pinyin, in which Chinese words are taught based on how they’re pronounced, Keswick tries to keep the content in her books as simple as possible.

She insists that learning the language is highly important, especially for those living in Chinese-speaking countries. “It’s always good to get involved and make an effort wherever you live,” Keswick says. “Plus, Mandarin is a beautiful language.”

With two more activity books coming out in September, Keswick continues her mission of producing more Chinese content for kids, helping them learn Putonghua – one children’s book at a time.

Adriana Dermenjian