Bea’s Balikbayan Box of Treasures

K-Gr 2–This gentle story, informative and appealing in equal measure, celebrates a loving tradition that links family and friends across great distances. Filipina American Bea is excited to make a balikbayan box, or care package, for her family in the Philippines. She begins by selecting a large cardboard box, earlier the fertile setting for her creative play. With the help of her parents and grandmother, she carefully selects food, clothing, and other goods to send. After a long wait, she connects with her grateful aunt, uncle, and cousins over a video call as they excitedly open the box. Finally, in a heartwarming bookend, her young cousins are shown interacting with the box in the same way she did at the start of the story: as a prop for games of pretend. Bea’s first-person narration is engaging and joyful as she draws readers through the process of preparing and sending the balikbayan box. “With the waiting all over,” Bea earnestly remarks at the story’s conclusion, “everyone’s hearts are full.” Chen’s bright, swirling artwork depicts the family in moments of togetherness and shared effort, with billowing clouds of color conveying thought and imagination. The ample back matter—a glossary (though the Tagalog words are thoughtfully woven into the story such that their meaning can be inferred), author’s note, and ideas for hands-on projects—provides multiple avenues to deepen children’s thinking after a read-through is finished.