Books like Mei Li
If you liked Mei Li, read Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, Shark vs. Train, or Are You My Mother? — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.
Closest match: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema — shares animals
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Looking for books like Mei Li by Thomas Handforth (Realistic Fiction · grades K–3)? It’s most often read for its themes of chinese new year, fortune-tellers, and play. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.
These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades K–3 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.
10 books similar to Mei Li
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's EarsVerna Aardema
Shark vs. TrainChris Barton
Are You My Mother?P. D. Eastman
Don't Need FriendsCarolyn Crimi
Never Spit on Your ShoesDenys Cazet
Put Me in the ZooRobert Lopshire
Let's Do NothingTony Fucile
A Boy Called BatElana K. Arnold
Butt or Face?Kari Lavelle
Crash, Splash, or Moo!Bob Shea
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Why each is a match
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- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Earsgrades K–3
- Shares themes of animals, both on the Caldecott Medal list, and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Shark vs. Traingrades K–3
- Shares themes of play, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Are You My Mother?grades K–1
- Shares themes of animals, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (K–1). Amazon → books like this →
- Don't Need Friendsgrades K–2
- Shares themes of animals, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (K–2). Amazon → books like this →
- Never Spit on Your Shoesgrades K–3
- Shares themes of animals, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Put Me in the Zoogrades K–1
- Shares themes of animals, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (K–1). Amazon → books like this →
- Let's Do Nothinggrades K–3
- Shares themes of play and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- A Boy Called Batgrades 3–5
- Shares themes of animals, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
- Butt or Face?grades K–2
- Shares themes of animals and overlapping grades (K–2). Amazon → books like this →
- Crash, Splash, or Moo!grades K–3
- Shares themes of animals and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
Common questions
- What books are similar to Mei Li?
- The 10 closest matches to Mei Li by Thomas Handforth on ReadingList include Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, Shark vs. Train, Are You My Mother?, Don't Need Friends, and Never Spit on Your Shoes. Each is scored on shared themes (chinese new year, fortune-tellers, and play), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades K–3), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
- Are books like Mei Li reading-level appropriate?
- Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades K–3), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
- How does ReadingList choose similar books?
- Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.
Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.