Ruby is sad that this her year grandmother (or Po Po as I read to my kids) won’t be able to come to the family dinner for Chinese New Year.
She makes a card for Po Po and goes on a journey to deliver it getting help from all the animals of the Chinese zodiac along the way.
This is a great, colourful story that incorporates the original tale of how the animals came to be a part of the zodiac (in this case, cat misses out because she is sleeping).
We LOVE this one!
This is a perfect introduction book to how Chinese New Year is celebrated. Typical Karen Katz cute illustrations.
And it gets bonus points for the little girl looking like Alice!
In this book, all members of the family prepare for the Lunar New Year from sweeping out the old year to making dumplings. We love the big fold out page at the end for the dragon!
All of Lin’s books are told with authenticity so you can’t go wrong with any of them. We also enjoy her books about dim sum, colours and the autumn moon festival.
This is a take of the classic ‘Goldilocks’ with a Chinese New Year twist. It’s really fun and I wrote about it here.
This one also follows how a family prepares for the Lunar New Year – with buying the food, cleaning the home and putting up decorations.
My kids love to lift-the-flaps and especially like the page that opens up to be a dragon in a parade.
The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac
by Emily Hiles
This brightly illustrated and easy to read retelling of the legend of the Chinese zodiac is fantastic. My own Chinese husband had never heard the legend before so this was fun for him to learn how each animal came to be on the zodiac (and why there is no cat!).
12 Lucky Animals: A Bilingual Baby Book
by Vickie Lee with pictures by Joey Chou
This is a great board book for babies! Each page is a different animal of the Chinese zodiac with both the Chinese character and the phonetic pronunciation along with the characteristics of that animal.
Okay, you know I’m not a fan of these <somewhat authorless> television based books but I can’t help include it because of how much my daughter loves it. I also love how Chinese New Year has made it into all this pop culture! My kids watched the CNY Peppa Pig special today and this book tied in nicely.
The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale
by Ying Chang Compestine with pictures by Sebastia Serra
This is a great, albeit wordy (so think for kindergarten and up) book that is a unique take on the story “The Gingerbread Man”. Ming is sent to the market to trade eggs for rice but buys a singing wok instead.
Love love love the illustrations and the recipe at the back for ‘festive fried rice’.
Yum Yum Dim Sum
by Amy Wilson Sanger
I LOVE dim sum. My family LOVES dim sum. And I recently discovered that there are people out there who have never even been to dim sum! I can see how it is overwhelming if you don’t know what to order.
Not only is this book a primer for your kids – but anyone can use it as a guide for a family dim sum date for Chinese New Year’s! This is actually part of a great series about food around the world.
I am truly feeling like a bowl of noodles (for long life), siu mai, and a freshly baked coconut bun (I really love Chinese food). I hope these books help you to understand and celebrate this holiday!
Happy Reading and Gung Hay Fat Choy! May the Year of the Pig be full of fortune, prosperity and good health!
Curious in Wonderland
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