Buddhist school to host Asian American authors and cultural event

By Eileen Hu

K-12 Buddhist school IGDVS will host the Ukiah Valley Children’s Book Fair on May 17^th on the campus of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Mendicino County, CA. 

Teachers and staff of Instilling Goodness and Developing Virtue Schools (IGDVS) have organized a children’s book fair to promote literacy, reading and cultural exchange. This free event includes 35 authors, a writing contest, and cultural performances.

Featured  Asian American authors include Malaysian born Natasha Yim, who writes for Disney Press and Random House;  Calcutta born cartoonist Nidhi Chanani, who illustrates for McMillian and Disney;  and Taiwanese American Nicole Chen, who writes middle grade novels for Harper Collins. 

Natasha Yim

Yim has written 11 books, including the popular Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas (2014), a Junior Library Guild and Scholastic Book Club selection, which parodies Goldy Locks and the Three Bears.  Some of her other books are Luna’s Yum Yum Dim Sum (2020), Disney Press’ Mulan’s Lunar New Year  (2018), and Like Mother, Like Daughter.  

Yim was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attended elementary school in Singapore, and high school in Hong Kong.  She came to the U.S. in 1979  to attend college, graduating from Dominican University in San Rafael, California, with a B.A. in English Literature and a M.S. in Counseling Psychology.

Nidhi Chanani 

Nidhi Chanani is a freelance illustrator, cartoonist, and writer. After completing her undergraduate literature degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Nidhi pursued a career in non-profits. The desire to draw kept pulling her away and in 2008 she enrolled in art school (only to drop out a year later). In 2009 she began completing one illustration every day of the week. After  three years of daily practice, she launched her art career and business.

Born in Calcutta and raised in suburban southern California, Nidhi was honored by the Obama Administration as a Champion of Change

Her debut graphic novel, Pashmina (2017)  weaves a tale about hardship and self-discovery that is born from juggling two cultures and two worlds. 

Nidhi is frequently a featured artist with Disney Parks. Her prints and cards are sold in retail shops throughout California.

Nicole Chen

Nicole’s debut middle grade novel, It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li (2023), follows a Taiwanese American girl as she aims to save her favorite boba tea shop by selling her handcrafted amigurumi dolls. Pearl learns how to navigate the world of business, tech, and craft as she fights to save Boba Time, and learns how to advocate for her passions and uncovers big truths about friendship, family, and entrepreneurship along the way. 

Nicole states, “My own family is a proud mix of cultures. I was born in the U.S. to Taiwanese immigrants and grew up in the Bay Area. When living in Spain, I met and married an Andorran and we have a young daughter who speaks Mandarin with her amah and agong and understands her dad’s Catalan perfectly. I write to celebrate the diversity and multiculturalism that lives in both my family and in families all over the world.”

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In order to promote diversity and multiculturalism, IGDVS accepts boarding students from all over the world. 

IGDVS

Instilling Goodness Elementary School was founded by Buddhist Tripitika Master Hsuan Hua at the suggestion of San Francisco City Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver in 1976 at Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco. Starting out with just eight students, the school outgrew its quarters and two years later moved to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah. 

The first Buddhist high school in the United States, Developing Virtue Secondary School was founded in 1981. Its first graduating class had only two students. 

In 2007, IGDVS, the elementary school and high school together, were accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The school is operated under the auspices of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association.