Hong Kong writer, illustrator Maple Lam explains how reading can help you focus
Lam is a featured author at this year’s International Literary Festival; her works include graphic novels and picture book ‘Dim Sum, Here We Come!’
Writer and illustrator Maple Lam shows off her book “Dim Sum, Here We Come!”. Photo: HandoutEvery week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with exercises about the story we’ve written.
Whenever Maple Lam visits her childhood home in Sha Tin, she visits a place that holds many important childhood memories.
“When I go back to Hong Kong, I go to the same library that I always went to as a kid,” explained Lam, 43. “The last time I was there, I saw a copy of [my book] in the graphic novel section.”
She has written and illustrated several books aimed at children. Some of her more recent works include the first two books in a graphic novel series called Monkey King and the World of Myths.
Lam loved reading as a child. It was only natural that she would find a way to pass that love on to the new generation.
Importance of reading
Lam’s love of reading and art started at a young age. She grew up before the big internet boom. This means she had more free time for slower, contemplative activities.
Lam said reading is “so important” for young people. This is especially true nowadays, as technology and social media have shortened attention spans.
“[Reading] helps you focus. It brings you into a brand new world, fiction or non-fiction. It’s a new world that you slowly get to immerse yourself into,” she said. “Magical things, anything that’s worthwhile, takes time. You have to let your brain learn that.”
Lam moved from Hong Kong to Los Angeles in the United States when she was 11 years old. She called the move “brutal” because of the new environment. Her life was now filled with the English language. She used books to stay connected to her culture and language.
“I’ve never stopped reading Chinese books, and that became helpful in making sure I don’t forget [my] roots,” she said.
Her experience growing up in Hong Kong and Los Angeles influenced her most recent picture book, Dim Sum, Here We Come! The book shows how sharing a meal together can be an act of love.
Language of love
One source of inspiration for her book was a story Lam read when she was young. It was about a boy who wanted to eat a hamburger and his grandfather who wanted to eat char siu bao.
“It was such a brilliant way to talk about growing up in Hong Kong and how Western and Eastern cultures collided,” she said.
The book also showed the cultural differences between the older and younger generations. “But at the end of the day, [the child and grandfather] still love each other,” Lam explained.
“I always wanted to try to recreate something that depicts how it is to be Asian-American in America and my experience of going to dim sum places here in the US,” said Lam. She still lives in Los Angeles today. “Sharing food – that’s the language of love.”
Maple Lam is a featured author at the 2025 Hong Kong International Literary Festival. She will hold workshops about creating picture books and graphic novels as part of the Young Readers Festival.
“I was so flattered to get that invitation,” she said. “I get to share the love and joy of creating books and comics and reading with kids in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong International Literary Festival will be held from March 1 to March 8. The Young Readers Festival runs from February 24 to March 7. Learn more information via the festival’s website.
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