January 24, 2022 · 7:00 am
It’s almost Lunar New Year! Xiao Mi, Hang, Kwan, Malai and Charu all celebrate the New Year in their own special way. Read this book to learn how each one of the Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian children and their families honor Lunar New Year, from dragon dances in China to firecrackers in India!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from iRead Book Tours. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
Our Lunar New Year by Yobe Qiu educates readers on how five countries (China, Korea, India, Vietnam, and Thailand) celebrate their new year. Under each header, it lists the proper name for their holiday. Example: Chinese Spring Festival is Chun Jie, and Thailand is Songkran.
I absolutely love learning new facts. For instance, in Our Lunar New Year, I discovered “Firecrackers scare away naughty spirits.” The clothes worn during Seollal (Korean New Year) are called hanbok. Every country mentioned, except Thailand, spoke of something people eat, wear, possess, or even a color that is supposed to bring good luck to them in the new year. Fascinating, right?! There’s so much nifty information — facts that any child or adult should learn because it’s essential to be informed about other cultures.
Maria Christina Lopez, Jennifer Prevatt, and Pui Yu Chan worked very well together to create illustrations that captured the reader’s eye and elevated the story. I loved the dragon, the scrumptious-looking food, the diverse characters, and all the beautiful colors.
I highly recommend everyone read this book!
Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤
Meet the Author:
Yobe is an educator, entrepreneur and mom who lives in NYC. As an educator, she focused on teaching families to embrace love, diversity and different cultures. Through the years working in the classrooms and closely with other educators, she noticed the lack of multi-cultural resources that represented children of color. That is when Yobe decided to create multicultural children stories that feature Asian children, families and cultures! Yobe loves spending time with her daughter, reading to children and taking long walks during the day!
Connect with the Author:
Website ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
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Tagged as animals, arts and crafts, Asia, bilingual, celebrations, children's book, China, Chinese, clothing, colors, dances, dragon, education, family, festivals, fiction, fireworks, flowers, food, friends, Holidays, homeschooling, Indian, Japenese, Korea, Koreans, laterns, lights, lions, Lunar New YEar, money, Multicultural, music, paintings, review, school-age kids, Thailand, traditions, Vietnamese
September 7, 2021 · 7:00 am
“Our Moon Festival” is a beautifully illustrated children’s book celebrating the unique ways the Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese communities celebrate the Moon Festival.
The story highlights different families and their traditions as they observe Zhong Qiu Jie, Tết Trung Thu, and Tsukimi!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from iRead Book Tours. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
Earth is a big, majestic world-encompassing so many beautiful people and traditions. It’s crucial teachers and parents educate children on different cultures inhabiting it. Our Moon Festival by Yobe Qiu would be an excellent book to choose for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, May.
In September, you could also read the book to celebrate the different festivals portrayed in the informative but entertaining children’s book: Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qui Jie), Vietnamese Moon Festival (Tết Trung Thu), and Japenese Moon Festival (Tsukimi).
If a child isn’t familiar with the foods listed, this would be an excellent opportunity to introduce new dishes to their diet. After reading Our Moon Festival by Yobe Qiu, I began looking up recipes for mooncakes (dessert). If my daughter and I can make them successfully, we might hand them out to our neighbors. Who couldn’t use “best wishes for peace, health, and happiness!” 😀
The illustrations by Christina Nel Lopez gave me ideas for art projects. We could make starry night paintings, paper lanterns, or a rabbit (like in Tsukimi). For public and homeschoolers, teachers might have the students write a haiku about the moon. What can I say? The teacher in me always finds ways to expand on a story to fit various subjects. Our Moon Festival by Yobe Qiu checks off many boxes. If you don’t want to expand on the story, then don’t. Your child will still find it very enjoyable.
My only slight change to the story would be the color choice for some of the text. A couple of lines/words were difficult for my daughter to see and read because the black text blended too much with the background images. Other than that, we found no issues.
Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤
Yobe is an educator, entrepreneur and mom who lives in NYC. As an educator, she focused on teaching families to embrace love, diversity and different cultures. Through the years working in the classrooms and closely with other educators, she noticed the lack of multi-cultural resources that represented children of color. That is when Yobe decided to create multicultural children stories that feature Asian children, families and cultures! Yobe loves spending time with her daughter, reading to children and taking long walks during the day!
Connect with the Author:
Website ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
Like this:
Like Loading...
Filed under Uncategorized
Tagged as arts and crafts, Asia, bilingual, celebrations, children's book, Chinese, dessert, dumplings, education, family, fiction, food, haiku, Holidays, homeschooling, Japenese, moon, mooncakes, Multicultural, rabbit, review, rice, school-age kids, traditions, Vietnamese
