Long-Long's New Year

Happy Chinese New Year!  Welcome the Year of the Dragon.  

In celebration of the year of the dragon, check out Long-Long's New Year by Catherine Gower and illustrated by He Zhihong (c. 2005).  He Zhihong paints her exquisite pictures on silk and rice paper, a technique which brings Gower's story to life.

Long-Long and his grandfather go to market to try to sell their fine, fresh cabbages hoping to earn enough money to properly celebrate the Spring Festival.  Grandfather encounters several road blocks, and in the meantime, kids enjoy watching Long-Long's resourcefulness.  Born in the year of the dragon, Long-Long is aptly named since long is the Chinese word for dragon.

Visit http://books.google.com.na/books?id=y77UqWdsVowC&pg=PT32&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false to view He Zhihong's exquisite illustrations.

Happy New Year! . . .

Welcome to the year of the Rabbit!  Yes, today is the Chinese New Year.  Well, actually, last night was the Chinese New Year since we in the western hemisphere are a day behind.  The kids around my house cheer in the Chinese New Year for their Uncle Steven who has been living in China these past 5 1/2 years.  To celebrate, we read Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin and My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz  (and Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel).  These two books cater to very young readers.  Both present very simple introductions to the basic Chinese customs and traditions for hailing in the new year (and authors' notes with further details).  So if you're interested in discovering more about the Chinese New Year, these two books provide a good starting point.