Best Online Chinese Bookstores with Chinese Children's Books and More • CHALK Academy

Since my family lives in a small town in California (United States), we have no local Chinese bookstores or libraries. Therefore, we depend on online Chinese bookstores for quality Chinese children’s books for our home library to create a Chinese learning environment.

Finding Chinese books has been extra challenging due to my lack of fluency in Chinese. However, I am thankful for a great selection of online Chinese bookstores that I can regularly shop from or have been recommended by other bilingual parents.

What do online Chinese bookstores sell?

Online Chinese bookstores generally carry the following items:

Books (Chinese picture books, Chinese bridge books, fiction, nonfiction) in simplified and traditional Chinese
DVDs
Audio CDs
Games and toys
Cultural clothing and decor

Where to buy Chinese books for children online?

This post explains the most popular online Chinese bookstores. The online Chinese bookstores are sorted by simplified versus traditional Chinese books and learning materials.

Online Chinese Bookstores that sell both simplified and traditional Chinese books

1. Amazon

Website: amazon.com
Content: Amazon is the most convenient retailer with the option of Prime 2-day shipping. However, they have a limited selection of books, movies, & music. In addition, many of their bilingual Chinese/English books have inaccurate Chinese translations.
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Pinyin, Zhuyin, English
Website language: English

2. China Sprout

Website: chinasprout.com
Content: China Sprout is a US-based online Chinese store with large selection of books, movies, & music. Toys, stickers, clothing, & other cultural items are also available.
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Pinyin, Zhuyin, English
Website language: English

3. Chinese Books for Children

Website: chinesebooksforchildren.com
Content: Chinese Books for Children is a US-based online Chinese bookstore with many books in simplified and traditional Chinese
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Pinyin, Zhuyin, English
Website language: English

4. Asian Parent

Website: asianparent.com
Content: Asian Parent is a US-based online Chinese bookstore with large selection of books, often has free shipping & sales promotions.
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Pinyin, Zhuyin, English
Website language: English

5. Little Monkey and Mouse

Website: littlemonkeyandmouse.com
Content: US-based online Chinese bookstore with large selection of books & activity books.
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Pinyin, Zhuyin, English
Website language: English

6. Yes Asia

Website: yesasia.com
Content: International online store for Asian entertainment products
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Pinyin, Zhuyin, English, Japanese, Korean
Website language: English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Japanese

7. Chinese Holy Bible

Website: chineseholybible.com
Content: Chinese Holy Bible is an online retailer with Chinese Christian books and bibles for children and adults. The downside is that their website seems to be frequently out-of-stock of many products.
Product language: Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, English
Website language: English, traditional Chinese

Where to buy Chinese books in the United States? — *Photo by Athena Lam on Unsplash*

Online Chinese bookstores for simplified Chinese books and learning products

1. Taobao

Website: world.taobao.com
Content: TaoBao has a vast selection of books, movies, & music at low prices. Toys, stickers, clothing, & other cultural items available.
Product language: mostly simplified Chinese, Pinyin, English; some traditional Chinese, Zhuyin
Website language: Simplified Chinese

2. Timesbook

Website: timesbook.com
Content: Timesbook is a US-based online Chinese bookstore with a vast selection of Chinese books for all ages
Product language: Simplified Chinese, Pinyin
Website language: Simplified Chinese

3. Odonata Publishing Sdn Bhd (红蜻蜓出版有限司公)

Website: odonatabooks.com
Content: Odonata is a Malaysian-based online Chinese bookstore with a large collection of picture books, Chinese comics, textbooks and more for all ages
Product language: Simplified Chinese, Pinyin
Website language: English, Simplified Chinese

4. Read With Me Mommy

Website: readwithmemommy.com
Content: Read with Me Mommy is a Singaporean bookstore with simplified Chinese books for all ages
Product language: Simplified Chinese, Pinyin
Wesbsite language: English

5. Flip For Joy (乐翻天)

Website: flipforjoy.com.sg
Content: Flip For Joy is a Singaporean bookstore with simplified Chinese books for young children
Product language: Simplified Chinese, Pinyin
Wesbsite language: English

6. My Story Treasury

Website: mystorytreasury.com
Content: My Story Treasury is a Singaporean bookstore with simplified Chinese books for young children
Product language: Simplified Chinese, Pinyin
Wesbsite language: English

For parents who are based in Singapore and Malaysia, Popular Bookstore is a commonly recommended bookstore for Chinese books and other resources for kids.

Online Chinese bookstores for traditional Chinese books and learning products

1. Books.com.tw

Website: books.com.tw
Content: Taiwan’s largest internet retailer. Vast selection of books, movies, & music. Toys, sticks, clothing, & other cultural items available.
Product language: Traditional Chinese, Zhuyin, English
Website language: Traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, English (Change language at top right corner of website by clicking on the world icon

2. 全美中文童書教材團購網 Mr. and Mrs. Books

Website: mrandmrsbooks.com
Content: Group buy for Chinese books arranged by a Taiwanese family on Facebook
Product language: Traditional Chinese, Zhuyin
Website language: Traditional Chinese

3. Gloria’s Bookstore

Website: glorias-bookstore.com
Content: Gloria’s Bookstore is a US-based online Chinese bookstore with large selection of children’s books
Product language: Traditional Chinese, Zhuyin
Website language: Traditional Chinese, some English

4. Seeds Hong Kong

Website: seeds.com.hk
Content: Hong Kong-based online retailer with books, toys, games; ships internationally
Product language: Traditional Chinese, English
Website language: Traditional Chinese

5. Stream of Praise

Website: store.sop.org
Content: Chinese Christian music CDs, DVDs, Chinese Christian sound books, clothing, and accessories
Product language: Traditional Chinese, English
Website language: English, Traditional Chinese

6. Yo Baby Shop

Website: yobabyshop.com
Content: United States-based retailer with books, furniture, clothing, and accessories
Product language: Traditional Chinese, English
Website language: English, Traditional Chinese

7. Ciaohu

Website: ciaohu.com
Content: 巧虎 is an educational Chinese children’s program. Monthly subscription to 巧虎 (Qiaohu, Ciaohu ) includes a DVD, workbook, & toy or game. Other 巧虎 toys, CDs, & books available on their website.
Product language: Traditional Chinese, Zhuyin
Website language: Traditional Chinese

Where should you buy Chinese books online?

As previously mentioned, your bookstore preference will depend on whether your family reads simplified or traditional Chinese books.

It also depends on your location.

Best international stores for Chinese books

Amazon is the most convenient with 2-day shipping but has limited book selection outside of China
Simplified Chinese readers will find a large selection of simplified Chinese books on Taobao
Traditional Chinese readers will find a large selection of traditional Chinese books on books.com.tw

Buying simplified Chinese books in the United States

Taobao offers overseas delivery for inexpensive books, but shipping costs may be high regardless of whether you shop directly or through an agent.
Timesbook is based in the US. This may be a good option for those who can navigate the Chinese website. Otherwise, you can try to email their customer service in English with your questions and book requests.

Buying traditional Chinese books in the United States

Books.com.tw offers overseas delivery, but the costs of both books and shipping are high. Many families choose to have the books delivered locally to relatives in Taiwan and then later receive them during a family visit
Gloria’s bookstore is convenient to shop from since some parts of her website are in English
Mr. and Mrs. Books’ website and Facebook group is a popular option for those looking to catch group sales

Where do we buy Chinese books for our kids?

Since my family is based in the United States and we are primarily learning simplified Chinese, we use China Sprout and Taobao most often.

Chinese books from China Sprout

China Sprout is very expensive with very high mark-up of most products. However, they often carry out-of-print books that we like, and we generally receive most products within a week. They are also responsive to email and can reply in English about product inquiries.

Chinese books from Amazon

If I see a Chinese children’s book on Amazon with a reasonable price, I usually buy it. My reason is that demand motivates supply, and I want Amazon to see that a demand for Chinese books for kids and respond with affordable and accessible options!

Chinese books from Taobao

However, Taobao is currently my preferred online retailer. Books from Taobao are closer to the retail price – a fraction of the markup at other bookstores. My personal opinion is that Taobao is the best option for families who read simplified Chinese due to large selection and low product costs, despite high overseas shipping costs.

If you’d like to shop from Taobao directly, check out this detailed guide from Hands-On Chinese Fun. Since I cannot read the website (it’s entirely in Chinese), I have used an agent (42 Agent / TaobaoRing) which charges commission and other fees for their service. The pros and cons of using an agent are detailed here.

Chinese books from Timesbook

In the future, I am planning on trying Timesbook.com and will update this post with my experience. I have heard that you can email Timesbook with questions in English if you have trouble reading Chinese.

Chinese books from Gloria’s Bookstore

As for the few traditional Chinese books that we own, I ordered them from Gloria’s Bookstore.

Chinese books from Ciaohu

We also have traditional Chinese workbooks as part of our monthly Ciaohu subscription.

I have shopped occasionally at some of the other websites on this list, but I prefer to consolidate most of my shopping to the aforementioned stores for simplicity. However, if I really want a specific book, then I will look for that ISBN on the other sites to see if they carry it.

What are your favorite Chinese bookstores?

Please share in the comments so that other parents can explore the recommendations!

Chinese book recommendations for children

Tips on how to teach children Chinese

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