We’re welcoming author Hà Dinh to the blog today, to celebrate the publication of The Jade Bracelet! Hà is a Highlights Foundation Scholarship recipient and we are pleased and proud! You can follow Hà on Instagram at @hellomrsdinh.
How are you feeling about publication of this book?
I am overjoyed and thrilled to have this book published! What a joy and dream come true to see a story written as a love letter to my beloved mom and a gift to my daughter become a picture book!
Describe how the idea for the book came to you. What was your process for getting it on the page?
The concept of this idea came to me after the passing of my mom. As I looked through our family’s old photo albums, I began reminiscing about all of the beautiful memories that we shared. This story was conceived from insurmountable sorrow, grief, and loss. Yet, when I sat to write it, I experienced a great sense of love and healing.
Do you have a favorite moment or scene in the book?
There are so many moments in this book that I love. However, my favorite moment is the two-page spread of the mom gifting the main character a jade bracelet. This moment reminds me so much of when my mom gave me my own jade bracelet in our living room when we used to live in an apartment. This scene is so special since my amazing illustrator drew it based on pictures of my family’s old living room with our family altar. Not many picture books portray family altars in Asian households, so this scene is very special and important to me.
What do you hope kids will take away from your book?
I hope kids see how beautiful their family traditions are and how important it is for them to pass them down to the next generation and beyond.
What was the most challenging part of writing this book? How did you overcome that?
The most challenging part of writing this book is making sure that I clearly showed the main character’s internal struggle between showing respect for her family and fitting in at school with her peers. I felt that way many times growing up and know that many children experience this feeling as well. I want them to know that we all feel some type of internal struggle from time to time, and they are not alone in their feelings.
Were there any surprises along the way – things that changed from your original idea as you wrote?
In the original manuscript, there was a scene on the playground, where the jade bracelet protects the main character. I really loved that scene but decided to take it out based on my editor’s suggestion so that I could focus more on the main character’s choosing the jade bracelet because she wants to honor her mother and grandmother instead.
Can you talk about your journey as a writer and how the Highlights Foundation played a part in it?
At the very beginning of my writing journey, I was blessed to receive a scholarship from the Highlights Foundation to take a course on writing picture books. The course gave me valuable insights into the world of publishing and helped me to bring ideas into manuscripts and my characters to life.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring writers, especially those working on their first book?
Write from your lived experiences. Those moments make you who you are and can also make your stories feel real and relatable to your readers.
What’s next for you? Are you already working on another project?
My next project is the publication of the first book of my Ly-Lan Finds a Way Chapter Series, Ly-Lan and the New Class Mix-Up with ZonderKidz/HarperCollins Christian on June 3, 2025. The second and third books are Ly-Lan and the Unfair Book Fair and Ly-Lan and the Missing Tooth Fairy, which will come out in 2026. This series follows a Vietnamese American girl in Texas as she navigates through third grade and finds her own way with her family, old and new friends, and faith in her heart. I also have another picture book titled The Moon Lantern, based on the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s coming out in the fall with Albert Whitman.
