1 / 4 · Front cover
JOY | Grow with Change · Book 1
Written by Keqing Gan · Illustrated by Qi Xie
Chinese–English bilingual edition
Choose a format
Prices in NZD · Direct shipping within New Zealand · Ordering from overseas?
About the book
Inspired by real family journeys across New Zealand, China, and Korea, Joy’s Keychain is a gentle yet resilient picture book about how children navigate distance, connection, and the weight of saying goodbye.
As Joy uses her special keys to open three magical doors right in her living room, she discovers a beautiful truth: the people and places we miss are never truly out of reach. Love can cross any ocean, and our most precious worlds can always be kept close at hand, right in our pockets.
Warm, tender, and emotionally resonant, this story opens conversations about belonging, change, and family love across distance.
Behind the book
For children growing up in multicultural worlds,
the meaning of home is fluid —
their emotional bonds stretch across places and languages.
Between each farewell and reunion,
they learn to reorganize and retell their own story.
This is LingNest’s very first picture book,
dedicated to all children and adults
who are finding themselves among multiple cultures.
It gently accompanies us in exploring —
Who am I?
Where do I belong?
and What do I hold dear?
For Third Culture Kids, goodbyes come often — but each farewell carries a gift, a trace of love that stays.
Joy’s Keychain gently helps children hold that feeling, reminding them that behind every door lies not only sadness and longing, but also warmth and belonging. The three symbolic keys in Joy’s hands open three doors of memory — each revealing a home, a language, and a piece of herself.
In the illustrations, a living room filled with Chinese, Korean, and New Zealand toys reflects Joy’s multicultural world. A half-open suitcase symbolizes the rhythm of movement and change in a Third Culture childhood — full of stories carried across borders. Both the suitcase and the keys appear again in other JOY | Grow with Change picture books, forming quiet threads across stories. At the end of the book, readers are invited to talk about their own keys and doors — a doorway that leads back to the feeling of home.
Reviews
Joy’s Keychain offers a tender and sensory portrait of belonging for children growing up across languages and places—where home is carried through memory, love, and everyday moments.
Joy’s Keychain is a warm, attachment-rich story that beautifully uses metaphor to reflect a young child’s multicultural and international lived experience. It speaks with sensitivity and age-appropriate insight to children growing up in mixed-race families, especially those with grandparents living overseas whom they may not see often, but to whom they remain deeply connected in their hearts. Sensitively written and paired with beautiful illustrations, this book is well suited to preschool-aged children and older.
In a world where so many children share this experience, Joy’s Keychain offers a wonderful and heartwarming acknowledgement of children’s feelings, relationships, and sense of belonging.
This book takes away the fear of what might be behind the doors. Open them, it’s okay.
This is a moving and sweet book that gently captures the invisible string of love that connects family across different oceans and time zones. I work at an Early Childhood Centre and know that many children will relate to the dilemmas of the diaspora and find comfort in Joy’s Keychain.
Visually, it is a beautiful and heartwarming book and the symbolism of the various doors made me feel emotional. If your child has family living overseas, then I would recommend this book to help them find comfort.
Free resource
Two classroom-ready activities to use with Joy's Keychain, includes:
Suitable for schools, libraries, families and community groups.
Download the Cultural Key BookPDF · 28 MB
Māori pattern consultant: Maurice Nelson
Korean culture consultants: Dr Nuri Kang and Wonhee Kang
You can currently order Joy’s Keychain through our website for direct shipping within New Zealand. Shipping & returns
International readers may be able to order through selected online booksellers in their region.
Availability, pricing, and delivery times may vary by retailer and location.
The book is available to borrow from 19 Auckland Libraries so far, and available at Paradox Books and more bookstores.
For bulk orders (10+ copies) or wholesale enquiries, please contact hello@lingnest.co.nz
NewBook 2 · Coming late 2026
The next story in the Joy series
