Toys for Tots Annual Drive

The Toys for Tots drive runs through Thursday, December 5, 2024. Donations of new, unwrapped toys and games for ages up to 15 years old are welcome. A donation bin can be found in the front vestibule of the library. Thank you for contributing!

Phebe Gray: Three Character Class: A Bilingual Reader of China's ABCs

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Comparable to a pocket encyclopedia, the Three Character Classic overviews Chinese history and important historical words, illustrating the fundamentals of Confucianism while teaching the basics of math, sciences, music, and moral lessons.  Readers will find pleasure in reading these stories, and the book serves as key to opening more doors to the understanding of Chinese culture.

Known as San Zi Jing in Chinese, it has been a literacy text since the 13th century. The Three Character Classic has stood the test of time through its rich content as well as its literary beauty. San Zi Jing was first translated into English by H.A. Giles, a Sinologist and former British Foreign Service Officer, used it as the first Chinese textbook in the inaugural Chinese language program at Cambridge University in the early 1900s.

Phebe Xu Gray taught Chinese language and culture to students of all levels for over 15 years. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in Education. Currently she resides in Falls Church City, while serving as a Resource Teacher at Fairfax County Public Schools.