FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-September 9, 2025

Marietta, GA — JoJo Chinese Songs for Baby & Me, Book 1 & Book 2, part of the JoJo Sing & Learn Bilingual Musical board book series for young children and their families, has won multiple national awards in 2025, including:

• Gold Medal – Best Interactive Children’s Book, 2025 IPPY Independent Publisher Book Awards

• Best Non-Fiction Children’s Book, 2025 Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) Award

• Honorable Mention for Best Illustrations, Board Books, and Activity Books, 2025 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards

The JoJo Sing & Learn series is an innovative “starter kit” for families taking their first step into raising bilingual children. It supports developmental milestones while introducing a new language through music from day one. Designed for children ages 0–7, the series introduces Mandarin Chinese through original songs with English translations, vibrant illustrations, and press-to-play sound buttons. Each book encourages language learning through music, bonding, and everyday storytelling — all during the critical early language development window from birth to age seven, when children’s brains are most receptive to acquiring new languages.

The songs are presented in Mandarin Chinese, with English translations and pinyin (phonetic pronunciation), making the books a true first step into Chinese — even for families who do not already speak the language at home.

The JoJo Sing & Learn series is created by a Marietta-based team of distinguished artists and educators: author and lyricist Christine Yang Barry, illustrator Lukas Miao Zhang, and music producer Felton Pilate.

Christine, a first-generation Chinese American who has devoted the past two decades to global education and business, is an author, entrepreneur, and advocate for early childhood bilingual education.

Illustrator Lukas Miao Zhang — internationally recognized for his achievements in visual arts — brings the books to life with vibrant, whimsical illustrations. He is an award-winning mixed-media oil painter, as well as an accomplished animation film director and producer who has led artistic projects involving hundreds of creative talents. His ability to blend fine art and storytelling gives the JoJo series its signature style — vividly high-contrast images designed for young eyes, yet sophisticated and deeply relatable for older children and their families.

Music producer Felton Pilate, a Grammy- and Oscar-nominated music legend best known for his work with MC Hammer and Con Funk Shun, and recipient of the 2022 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, transforms traditional nursery rhymes from around the world into playful, contemporary songs that captivate young children and their families.

“In my decades of helping families raise bilingual children, young parents always ask me the same question: Where do I start? This series is my answer — created with deep love and grounded in early childhood developmental research,” said Christine Yang Barry. “I wanted to find the purest, most natural first words that parents say and sing to their children — words of love and everyday connection — and then shape them into music.”

Across cultures and languages, she explained, parents often say the same tender words to their babies. One of her favorites: “You are the cutest baby 你是最乖的宝宝 (nǐ shì zuì guāi de bǎo bao).” “So simple, yet universal, poetic, and beautiful— and at the same time, they provide the very building blocks of basic communication. I searched for these first words of connection, and they became the heart of our lyrics.”

Christine continued: “Our world-class creative team put tremendous care into every detail and revision to make sure each song tells a relatable, everyday story from a child’s world — and gives families a way to say, You are loved. You matter. On top of that universal love and connection, the books introduce a beautiful language to the incredibly developing little brain — one that absorbs sound and speech like a sponge. What’s better than singing to your baby to start a new language?”

Christine’s own 3-year-old daughter already speaks Chinese, Spanish, and English fluently — the result of being exposed to all three languages since infancy. “My daughter melts hearts and makes instant friends as she effortlessly switches languages when talking to people from different backgrounds. As a mother, I’m incredibly proud — and I want other families to experience the joy and power of raising multilingual children.”

The JoJo Chinese Songs for Baby & Me series is now available through Amazon and www.jojolearning.com

Learn more about the inspiration and research behind the JoJo series in the blog post: The Love & Science Behind JoJo Chinese Songs for Baby & Me Books

Media Contact:

Christine Yang Barry
Author & Co-Founder, JoJo Learning
Press@jojolearning.com

 www.jojolearning.com

Media Assets: 

All images are available for media use. © JoJo Learning. For editorial coverage of JoJo Learning only. Credit ‘JoJo Learning. No third-party/commercial use.

 Documents (PDF):

• [Fact Sheet: JoJo Sing & Learn Bilingual Musical Book Series]
• [Author Bio – Christine Yang Barry, Lukas Miao Zhang & Felton Pilate ]

Images (Hi-Res JPG/PNG):

• [Book 1 Cover]
• [Book 2 Cover]
• [Book 2 Cover with IPPY Gold Medal]
• [Books 1 & 2 Combined Cover]
• [Author Photo – Christine Yang Barry]
• [Illustrator Photo – Lukas Miao Zhang]
• [Music Producer Photo – Felton Pilate]
• [Illustration Sample Spread-Book 1]
• [Illustration Sample Spread-Book 2]
• [Grandparents singing first Chinese words with 2-year-old granddaughter]
• [One-year old reading JoJo Chinese Songs for Baby & Me book]

Videos (MP4):

• [Grandparents singing first Chinese words with 2-year-old granddaughter – MP4]
• [2- and 5-year-old sisters singing with JoJo books – MP4]
• [8-month-old baby reads JoJo Sing & Learn books daily – MP4]
• [Video Demo, Book 1 – MP4]
• [Video Demo, Book 2 – MP4]

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