The Hmong people are an ethnic group in East and Southeast Asia. Stories of the Hmong people – an ethnic group from China and Southeast Asia – are passed down orally and can be told through paj ntaub story cloths.

The Hmong Journey (by Ger Thao) – told by a Hmong grandma in a bedtime story to her grandchild – is about the Hmong journey from Laos, to Thailand, to America. The goals of this historical and realistic fiction bilingual picture book are to provide a mirror for Hmong students to see themselves in literature, as well as a window for non-Hmong students to learn about the culture and history of the Hmong and to understand the journey taken (and sacrifices made) by Hmong families to get to America for the opportunity of a better life and future. The Hmong Journey was published by Hmong Educational Resources Publisher in 2018.

Ger Thao holds an MA in Education, a BA in Liberal Studies, and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from California State University, Chico. She is a Graduate Degree Fellow of the East-West Center and is pursuing a PhD in Education with a Curriculum and Instruction Specialization at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. A speaker of both English/Hmong, she has been teaching for eight years as an elementary school teacher and as an English Language Arts Intervention Specialist/English Language Development Coordinator. Her research interest focuses on multicultural children’s literature and cultural curriculum by underrepresented marginalized groups, with a focus on literature by Hmong authors and the teaching of Hmong language and culture. She wrote this bilingual children’s picture book to share her family’s story and the historical/cultural context of the Hmong with the community.