Celebrate Chinese New Year
This year the Chinese New Year falls on January 23, 2012 and is celebrated for 15 days. When China adopted the Western calendar in 1912 the country also began to celebrate January 1 as New Year's Day. Still, the traditional Chinese New Year–or Spring Festival–is the longest and most important Chinese holiday. In China, a weeklong vacation from school and work is given and people spend the time relaxing and celebrating with their family. There are big celebrations such as parades, festivals, and fireworks. In homes, people thoroughly clean and feast with their families. The color red, which symbolizes fire and is thought to drive away bad luck, is seen everywhere. Children are given envelopes with money. Lastly, the Festival of Lanterns marks the end of the Chinese New Year. Lanterns of all styles and designs are hung, often with poems and riddles.
The Year of the Dragon:
Each year in the Chinese calendar is dedicated to a specific animal. There are twelve animals: Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Rat, Boar, Rabbit, Dog, Rooster, Ox, Tiger, Snake, and Ram. Each animal is thought to impart certain characteristics to people born in their year. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. People born in the Year of the Dragon are passionate, brave, and self-assured. They are wise, enterprising, and driven, but can also be hotheaded and have a sharp tongue.
For more information and activities about Chinese New Year:
http://www.history.com/topics/chinese-new-year
http://pbskids.org/sagwa/games/countdown/index.html
http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/chinese_new_year.html
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/chinese-new-year-crafts.htm
Contributor: Emily Griffin
Reviews
China
Colin Cheong
Children and adults whose exposure to China's rich and varied celebrations is limited to a few images of Chinese New Year and the Chinese horoscope will find Festivals of the World: China a fun and informative primer featuring China's many festivals. Beginning with a brief list of some of China's seasonal festivals–including Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, Hungry Ghosts Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival–the book goes on to describe the origins and practices of these celebrations. Through simple and straightforward text, Cheong describes the traditions of each festival, and often includes a number of Chinese folktales and historical events that influenced or began each practice. Kids will be particularly interested in an old Chinese monster folktale that explains why the Chinese use firecrackers and red banners to celebrate their New Year, as well as Cheong's explanation for how the Chinese dragon acquired its unique appearance. Cheong also encourages readers to consider the similarities (and differences) between popular Chinese celebrations like the Hungry Ghosts Festival and European/American holidays like Halloween, helping kids see parallels between different cultural celebrations. The book ends with some craft projects for kids, including instructions for making a Western-style dragon kite and cooking tang yuan, a sweet Chinese dessert made from rice flour. It is an entertaining and educational glimpse into aspects of Chinese history and culture that can excite young readers into learning more about China's traditions. 2011, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark/Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Ages 7 to 10, $28.50. Reviewer: Michael Jung, PhD (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781608700967
Crouching Tiger
Ying Chang Compestine
Illustrated by Yan Nascimbene
Our young narrator's grandfather comes to visit from China. In the morning, he sees his grandfather practicing the ancient martial art of tai chi, and asks if he will teach it to him. Vinson, or Ming Da as his grandfather calls him, finds tai chi very hard at first. But when his father saves a young woman by breaking a board that is falling on her, Vinson goes back to working with him. At the time of the Chinese New Year parade, Vinson does not want his friends to see him wearing the fancy jacket his grandfather gives him. In crowded Chinatown the next day, Grandpa's friends give Vinson the traditional envelopes with money. Then he joins the lion parade. Ming Da promises to do his best to learn the martial arts. He is no longer ashamed of his jacket, or his grandfather, but is proud. Full page ink and watercolor illustrations face lengthy text pages, with a small drawing showing a tai chi position below the text. The pictures are naturalistic, but exude an appropriate quality of stillness and neatness. Bits of Chinese culture along with information about traditional exercises add to the appeal of Vinson's story. A note includes information about Chinese martial arts and about the Chinese New Year celebration, along with a glossary. 2011, Candlewick Press, Ages 4 to 8, $16.99. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780763646424
The Flying Chinese Wonders
Jeff Brown & Josh Greenhut
Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan
Flat Stanley finds himself being mailed to China to help out a Chinese acrobat group in this book in the "Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures" series. When Yang, one of the acrobats, has an accident and cannot perform, he decides that Stanley's flexibility will help Stanley to fill in for him. When they get to China, Yang and his twin sister, Yin, introduce Stanley to some of China's cultural traditions. Stanley learns that the names Yin and Yang are not just their names, but that they are words that describe the sacred balance of nature. He practices learning to fly by first climbing up the face of Mount Huashan. Another practice takes him to the top of the Great Wall of China. When he arrives in Beijing, it is just in time to celebrate the Chinese NewYear. He even gets to go to the zoo where he sees Manchurian tigers and giant pandas. An unfortunate accident happens when Stanley crawls under the fence and the panda strikes him. Stanley receives Chinese acupuncture and is still able to have a great performance. There are various black and white illustrations throughout the book. Followers of Stanley's escapades will enjoy the antics while learning about China. The book is appropriate for readers who are beginning to read chapter books. 2011, Harper/HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 7 to 10, $4.99. Reviewer: Vicki Foote (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780061430039
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu
Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Lucy Wu thinks sixth grade is going to be the best year ever. Her older sister is moving away to go to college, which means Lucy gets her own room for the first time. She may become captain of the sixth grade basketball team, and the cute new boy at her school, Harrison Miller, will be in her class. But when Lucy learns that her great aunt Yi Po, is coming to stay with the family, Lucy must share her room. She builds a wall between her side of the room and Yi Po's side with her desk and bookshelf. To make matters worse, Lucy's mom tells her that she must attend Chinese school on Saturdays which means she cannot play on her league basketball team with her best friend, Madison. At school, the popular girl, Sloan, has decided she wants to be captain of the sixth grade team. Lucy worries that no one will pick her as captain over Sloan. Things gradually get better for Lucy as she discovers Harrison is also in her Chinese class, and Yi Po takes an interest in Lucy's love of basketball which makes Lucy rethink the wall she has put up between herself and her great aunt. Written in Lucy's point of view with humor, warmth and honesty, this coming-of-age story focuses on true friendship and the importance of family and pride in one's culture. 2011, Scholastic Press, Ages 9 to 13, $17.99. Reviewer: Jody Little (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780545162159
The Magic Brush: A Story of Love, Family, and Chinese Characters
Kat Yeh
Illustrated by Huy Voun Lee
When Jasmine's grandfather–or Agong–starts teaching her Chinese calligraphy, Jasmine never dreams how magical Agong's artwork can be. The Chinese characters he paints quickly become a magical tapestry of mountains, forests, monkeys, flying horses, and even dragons. Their calligraphy lessons enable them to have many magical adventures all through the spring, but they abruptly end in the fall when Agong falls ill and dies. Can Jasmine use the skills Agong taught her to keep his memory and the magic of Chinese calligraphy alive? Beautifully painted and poignantly told, this book presents both a whimsical story of a girl's relationship with her grandfather and a fun primer on Chinese characters that shows how the shapes of Chinese characters are designed to resemble the animals, landmarks, and other objects they describe. Teachers and librarians should consider offering this picture book, along with other books on Chinese characters and calligraphy such as Catherine Louis and Shi Bo's My Little Book of Chinese Words. 2011, Walker Publishing Company/Bloomsbury Publishing, Ages 6 to 12, $16.99. Reviewer: Michael Jung, PhD (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780802721785
A New Year's Reunion
Li-Qiong Yu
This exquisite picture book, first published in Taiwan in 2008, offers young readers a heart-rending, heart-filling story of familial love combined with a visual feast celebrating the exuberant festivities of the Chinese New Year. Young Maomao's father, who works building "big houses in faraway places," comes home only once a year, for the New Year's holiday. At first it's unsettling for Maomao to try to reconnect with this bearded stranger of a Papa, but soon Maomao and Papa are busy making sticky rice balls, heading off on New Year's visits to friends, taking care of necessary house repairs, and watching the neighborhood dragon dance. Maomao is thrilled when she is the one to bite down upon the fortune coin hidden by Papa in a sticky rice ball to bring good luck in the new year, heartbroken when she loses the coin, and ecstatic when she finds it again only to give it away to Papa as he prepares to leave for another long year apart. The text poignantly relates the simple events that show the deep feelings Maomao has for Papa, and the accompanying art is Caldecott-worthy in its breathtaking beauty, color, and wonder, and in the powerful emotions it depicts. American children are fortunate indeed that Candlewick has made available this wonderful book, culturally specific in its brilliantly realized setting and culturally transcendent in its message of enduring love. 2011, Candlewick, Ages 5 to 8, $15.99. Reviewer: Claudia Mills, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780763658816
The Star Maker
Laurence Yep
Set in the 1950s, this is a story of a Chinese boy named Artie who lives with his parents and older brother, Harry in San Francisco's Chinatown. All of his relatives live there as well, so holidays and birthdays are always big celebrations. Because he is constantly being teased by Harry and his cousins Artie does not enjoy these very much. Even more of a problem is his cousin Petey, a mean and often ill-tempered boy who always made Artie the target of cruel remarks and actions. The whole family likes Uncle Chester because of his generous, friendly and helpful character. Artie loves him best of all and appreciates his aid against bullying by Petey. After being goaded by Petey into promising to buy fireworks for all the youngsters in the extended family for the celebration of Chinese New Year, Artie asks Uncle Chester for help. Artie does earn some money by doing odd jobs, but because of Uncle Chester's promise, he spends it for comics and treats. Artie and his uncle spend a lot of time together and he soon perceives that Chester also feels like an outsider. As a result, they become even closer. With the New Year festivities drawing ever nearer, Artie really begins to worry about how he will get the fireworks even though Uncle Chester continues to reassure him that everything will be fine. Of course, all ends well and the fireworks are a huge success. Since the problem of bullies is at the forefront in many schools and the community, this title belongs in every collection for young readers. 2011, Harper/HarperCollinsPublishers, Ages 9 to 12, $15.99. Reviewer: Sylvia Firth (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780060253158
To view a Chinese New Year feature from a previous year, click here
Updated 1/26/12
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