“To have one son was considered lucky, / To have ten was great luck indeed!” This nod to the Chinese tale about ten brothers describes a lively, loving Chinese family of boys. Their parents call their sons their ten little dumplings because they were round as babies and because, “like sons, dumplings are auspicious, / Bringing prosperity and success.” The ten brothers do everything together: dressing, playing, eating, sleeping. And indeed, they seem graced by good fortune as they grow “into ten fine men.” But who is telling this story? In a marvelous twist half way through, the narrator reveals herself: “Those dumplings were my brothers. You may not have seen me, but I was there too. You just need to look more closely.” While her brothers were growing up, she was, too—listening, studying, learning, and finding her own talent as an artist. And now she has a child of her own. “My own wonderful girl. My little dumpling. How lucky I am!” The buoyant ink, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations on matte pages are part of the fun, and finding the young narrator, who indeed appears in every early scene, is one of many delights of a fresh, inspired story. (Ages 4-7)