“Can I be both Chinese and Jewish?” wasn’t something Stephanie Wildman ever expected to hear from her grandson. After her initial surprise, though, came a realization.
“He’s not the only child like that,” the San Francisco resident told J. “Kids need to see themselves in books, so they understand they can be [both].”
Inspired by her grandson, whose mother is Jewish and father is Chinese American, Wildman reached out to Adam Ryan Chang, a former student she met while teaching at the University of Hawaii’s law school in 2010.
Thus was born “Miri’s Moving Day,” a slice-of-life children’s book about a Chinese Jewish girl who relies on her grandparents to guide her through a major event in her life: moving across town with her parents.
Featuring vibrant, charming illustrations by Dream Chen, the book is as much about Miri as it is a testament to the relationship between her grandfathers: her Chinese “yeh-yeh” and Jewish “zayde.”
“You have the story within the story,” said Chang, who lives in Daly City. “How did these grandfathers have their own friendship? It lets the mind wonder and question and imagine, but that’s the beauty of it.”
To help alleviate her stress about the move, each grandfather gives Miri a gift from the other’s culture: from yeh-yeh, a mezuzah, and from zayde, a pair of miniature guardian lions, much like the massive ones that come to life during celebrations of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which begins this year on Jan. 29.
Chang characterizes Miri’s relationship to her dual identity as “sure-footed,” which he attributes to the healthy cultural curiosity and exchange modeled by the adults in the book.
Wildman and Chang started co-writing the book in 2022, and Kar-Ben Publishing released it in November. Despite the late fall launch, Tablet magazine included “Miri” on its list of best Jewish children’s books in 2024 and the San Francisco Chronicle added it to a holiday gift list.
Wildman, a professor emerita at Santa Clara Law School, wanted to be a writer ever since she was young, but due to her self-described “risk averseness,” that desire remained a dream until she retired in 2017 at age 69. She finally took the leap in 2018 and signed up for a children’s book writing class through the Writing Salon. Seven years later, “Miri’s Moving Day” is her fifth published children’s book.
Both children of immigrants, Wildman and Chang each recognized the role of grandparents when they crafted their story about a mixed-race, mixed-ethnicity family.
“There are so many families, particularly from immigrant backgrounds, where you have to lean on generational support,” Chang said, “so that kids and grandkids can thrive and flourish, and pursue whatever that American dream is.”
Wildman, 75, was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family, with a Romanian mother and a father of Austrian heritage, but her family soon moved to Southern California. She grew up between the Melrose and Fairfax neighborhoods of Los Angeles alongside her extended family, including aunts and uncles and, most importantly, grandparents.
Because her mother didn’t drive, her grandfather would chauffeur her around the city while her father was at work, a memory she still holds dear and channeled in her contributions to the book.
Chang, 38, was born in San Francisco to immigrant parents. His father was from southern China and mother from Burma, but he was raised primarily by his grandparents. His first language was Cantonese.
Though Chang and Wildman have collaborated previously on articles and presentations related to critical race theory and the relationship between gender and the law, this was their first joint creative-writing venture.
“I never thought I was going to be a children’s book writer,” Chang said. “As [Wildman] said ‘yes’ to me so many times, it was without a doubt that I would say ‘yes’ to join her on this journey of children’s book writing.… I’ve never taken that teacher hat off of Stephanie.”
Over the years, Wildman said, she has also learned much from her creative partner. Chang, who identifies as queer, is executive director of Oasis Legal Services, a nonprofit public-interest law firm that provides legal services to low-income LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. The organization has helped more than 2,700 queer and transgender immigrants, according to its website.
“He does embody the Jewish value of tikkun olam in his work,” Wildman said. “He is really a shining light out there and changing the world.”
Throughout the writing process, both Chang and Wildman were able to share aspects of their own cultures and experiences with each other and then infuse those into Miri’s story.
Chang, for example, became a father in 2017 when he and his former partner adopted their daughter, Annaliese, now 9. Chang sees many similarities between the experiences of his daughter and Miri, particularly in how they relate to the diverse cultural makeup of their families.
Annaliese is a “full-fledged Latina: She’s Guatemalan, Mexican, Puerto Rican,” said Chang. As he co-wrote the book, he would think about how she has grappled with her own questions about culture with Chang’s Chinese-Burmese heritage and her other father’s Taiwanese background. “She grew up with our food, our language — she speaks Mandarin fluently,” Chang said.
The back portion of the book features detailed authors’ notes and a glossary explaining the distinct cultural artifacts and terms mentioned in the story.
“I find it’s really precious for us to be friends across all these lines of difference,” Wildman said.
“Miri’s Moving Day”
Adam Ryan Chang and Stephanie Wildman. Illustrated by Dream Chen. Ages 4 to 8. (24 pages, Kar-Ben Publishing)