About this item
An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio GOLD Award A Nick Jr. "Best Holiday Book" This is the English-language paperback reprint of the award-winning Lunar New Year classic (also available in Chinese and Korean bilingual editions) . A young boy looks forward to the Lunar New Year, often called the Chinese New Year, a time of hope - and you dont have to be Chinese to celebrate it! Janet S. Wongs spare, lyrical couplets voice a childs determination to face the new year with courage and optimism. Yangsook Choi captures the spirit of celebration in her vibrant, energetic pictures. Review A festive, truly engaging story of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Chinese Korean boy tells us, in a funny, fresh, first-person voice, how his best friends, a German French boy and a Hopi Mexican girl, like to celebrate the Chinese New Year, too. Yangsook Chois artfully composed, action-packed paintings add uplifting color to the happy spirit of the holiday, and an authors note provides more details about the Chinese New Year and Wongs childhood memories of the celebration. This delightful picture book makes a fine addition to the small collection of Chinese New Year books, distinguishing itself with the narrators endearingly persistent quest for luck: "They say you are coming into money / when your palms itch, / and my palms have been itching for days. / My brother thinks its warts, / but I know luck is coming." (Ages 4 to 8) - Emilie Coulter From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2. Wong carefully and clearly presents the reasons behind the rituals in a manner understandable to young children. She explains in an appended note about her own confusion as a child about the timing and meaning of the holiday. Chois vibrant...paintings realistically capture the details of and preparations for this hopeful time of year. Youngsters will enjoy the bright colors and the sense of motion and activity conveyed as the boy helps his mother clean, flosses his teeth, and cringes from the noise of the firecrackers. A good choice for anyone getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year. Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library From BOOKLIST Ages 4-8. The narrator, who is half Korean, describes how he and his friends, like so many people in a multicultural society, celebrate the holiday with a modern blend of adopted and inherited traditions: the boys mother makes traditional Korean new year soup; Evelyn, part Hopi and Mexican, loves the money-stuffed red envelopes from her Singaporean neighbor; and Glenn, part French and German, "calls it Chinese New Year, too, even though he celebrates it at his house by eating Thai food to go." At home, the boy cleans the house, "so it can soak up good luck like an empty sponge," grooms himself, and pledges to be brave and positive - "none of that cant do, dont have, why me." Chois smooth, brightly colored paintings - filled with firecrackers, dragons, and other cultural symbols - ably illustrate the optimistic activity and the yearning in the accessible, rhythmic text. Children of diverse backgrounds will connect with the boys earnest desire to help change the familys luck and realize his own potential. Gillian Engberg From The Horn Book "In a spare, lyrical narrative a Chinese-Korean boy reflects on what the luner new year, otherwise known as Chinese New Year, means to him . . . The concepts of renewal, starting over, and luck, which inform many of the rituals, will resonate with young readers." - The Horn Book
About the Author
Janet S. Wong (www.janetwong.com) is an award-winning author and anthologist of more than two dozen books for young readers, teachers, and parents. One of the most distinctive things about Janet Wong's body of work is its variety. There's at least one book for anyone--and EVERYONE!
Picture Books
BUZZ
This book was an L.A. Times Best Book of the Year for children--a lively read-aloud about a toddler's busy morning routine. Kids love buzzing along every time you point to the word BUZZ!
THE DUMPSTER DIVER
This book is not just for kids--with its hipster illustrations, it's a quirky gift for anyone who is good at "creative recycling." Give it to a 5-year-old future engineer along with a box full of assorted junk or to your dad for helping you clean your garage.
APPLE PIE 4th of JULY
This book landed Janet a gig at the White House Easter Egg Roll--a "slice of community" story celebrating diversity.
HOMEGROWN HOUSE
Gorgeous illustrations by E.B. Lewis enhance this story about making a house feel like a home.
Poetry Books
TWIST: Yoga Poems
This book is for all ages, from 3-year-olds who love looking at Julie Paschkis's detailed illustrations (and can bend themselves into all of the yoga poses) to 73-year-old yoga teachers. In "Finding the Center," the author compares herself to a doughnut.
KNOCK ON WOOD: Poems about Superstitions
Teachers looking for books to use with the Common Core will enjoy discussing the Author's Notes about what the superstitions mean and comparing them with the way superstitions are presented in poems. A follow-up exercise is to have students interview family members about those same superstitions.
GOOD LUCK GOLD and A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED
Janet Wong received the Claremont Stone Center Recognition of Merit for these two classic collections about the Asian American experience.
BEHIND THE WHEEL: Poems about Driving
Forty poems for teens about driving also use driving as a metaphor for a wide variety of life issues.
THE RAINBOW HAND: Poems about Mothers and Children
Children's favorites from this book include "Smother Love" and "Crazy Mother," while new mothers appreciate poems reflecting on the motherhood experience such as "The Gift of Breathing Slow."
ONCE UPON A TIGER: New Beginnings for Endangered Animals
As with KNOCK ON WOOD, this is another title that teachers will find useful in their teaching of the Common Core. Most of these poems about endangered animals are "pourquoi tale" poems with a folkloric feel, and yet critical readers will be able to recognize embedded facts once they read the nonfiction notes.
DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE: Poems for an Election Year
These mostly-lighthearted and
