Chinese new year, which is now more commonly called Lunar New Year (since it’s celebrated in many other countries besides China and based on the lunar calendar), is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. It traditionally lasts 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival. It marks the passage of the harvest season and celebrates the coming spring.
Below we have included some of our favorite Lunar New Year picture books that we absolutely love and hope you do too. Happy Lunar New Year.
TWO NEW YEARS
TWO NEW YEARS by Richard Ho is a beautiful portrayal of a diverse family who celebrate separate New Year’s.
It features a Jewish mom and an Asian dad as they share the traditions of both cultures.
They celebrate Rosh Hashanah in the fall and Lunar New Year in the spring. Their celebrations differ, but some similarities bring them together.
From acknowledging the passage of time in both cultures and paying homage to ancestors to sharing delicious food and prayer.
With vibrant illustrations by Lynn Scurfield, this magnificent book is absolutely relatable and encourages us to explore and embrace different traditions and customs because they just might share wonderful similarities. Publisher: Chronicle Books. AGE: 3-6
ASIAN ADVENTURES: DELICIOUS ASIAN FOODS FROM A - Z
ASIAN ADVENTURES: DELICIOUS ASIAN FOODS FROM A – Z by Yobe Qiu is delightfully delicious.
It introduces children to yummy Asian foods while learning the alphabet.
From Korean Bibimbap and Japanese natto to Vietnamese phö and Indian roti, each page is laden with foods from Asian countries that match each letter of the alphabet.
The bold and colorful illustrations by Cynthia Li bring this decadent book to life that’s perfect for learning about the food culture of Asia. Publisher: By Yobe Qiu. AGE: 3-9
I AM GOLDEN
I AM GOLDEN by Eva Chen celebrates the uniqueness of being different.
Featuring a Chinese girl named Mēi, this book is a letter of hope and love that encourages all children who look different to accept who they are.
It’s full of rich Chinese culture and pays homage to ancestors who made it possible for their experiences to be different.
With bright and vibrant illustrations by Sophie Diao, I Am Golden, among other things, fosters self-love and acceptance. Publisher: Feiwel & Friends. Age: 2-6
LUNAR NEW YEAR
LUNAR NEW YEAR by Hannah Eliot is another delightful book in the “Celebrate The World” book series. It showcases Chinese New Year with a brief history, honoring ancestors and highlighting various activities that welcome the festival. It’s about cleaning homes and preparing for good luck in the upcoming year. They also make dumplings shaped like yuanbao, an ancient money and children receive red envelopes with money from parents, grandparents and other family members and friends.
This book teaches children the heritage of Chinese New Year with ancient tales of monsters defeated by the loud crackling of burning bamboos and the significance of the color red and the bright lights of lanterns.
LUNAR NEW YEAR is for anyone who wants to learn about this amazing tradition of honor, prosperity and good luck. The illustrations by Alina Chau are festive and bright. Knopf Books for Young Readers. Publisher: Simon and Schuster. Age: 2-6
12 LUCKY ANIMALS
12 LUCKY ANIMALS, a bilingual baby book by Vickie Lee is perfect for teaching children about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and what they represent. Not only is it bilingual, it’s coupled with pronunciations so children can learn Chinese in a fun and easy way. The illustrations by Joey Chou are friendly and bright and the animals are so cute. What zodiac animal are you? Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Age: 2-4
DRAGON DANCE
We couldn’t have a Chinese new year list without a lift-the-flap book. DRAGON DANCE by Joan Holub is a delightful and interactive book that celebrates the new year with rhyming fun and vibrant festive illustrations by Benrei Huang.
Children await a surprise under every flap leading to the friendly Dragon at the end. A definite favorite for Chinese New Year. Publisher: Random House Kids. Age 0-3
BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR
In BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR by Grace Lin, Jie-Jie and her family can’t wait for the new year to arrive. They decorate with spring happiness poems, make dumplings and sweep the old year out of the house. As they get ready for the New Year feast, she dresses in her Qi Pao and celebrates with firework, lanterns and dancing lions.
The dragon is awake and the new year has begun. Grace Lin is no stranger to some of the most vibrant and colorful illustrations, making this book is a definite favorite. Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers. Age: 2-4
CHINESE NEW YEAR WISHES
Jillian Lin’s CHINESE NEW YEAR WISHES is another bilingual book that we love. There are two stories in the book, one features a little boy, and the other is the story of the origin of Chinese New Year.
A cute little boy is preparing for the celebrations by cleaning and hanging up red and gold decorations for good luck in the upcoming year.
He prays for peace and happiness with his grandpa and shakes a box of bamboo sticks that brings him luck. It delights him to feast with family and friends and on the first day of the new year he wears his new clothes and shoes and receives money from his parents in a red package to buy a toy car. Later he goes to a parade to see dancing dragons in blooming drums.
The book also depicts a photograph of a Chinese family and it is interactive with bright illustrations. Publisher: Independently Published. Age: 4-8
MY FIRST CHINESE NEW YEAR
Karen Katz is no stranger to some amazing picture books and MY FIRST CHINESE NEW YEAR did not disappoint.
It features a little girl and her family preparing for the festivities. They decorate the walls with bright red paper and it is tradition to sweep away bad luck from last year to welcome in good luck for the new year.
They buy Plum and Quince blossoms that remind them that new things can always grow and also prepare an altar full of tangerines and oranges honoring their ancestors. The tangerines and oranges stand for money and good luck.
With new clothes and a fresh haircut, they enjoy a big banquet for New Year’s Eve and later go to the parade to see the lion dancers, drummers, paper lanterns and the dragon as a sign of good luck at the start of spring. There is so much information about Chinese New Year and the illustrations are bright, colorful and witty. Publisher: Mackids/ Square Fish Books. Age: 2-4
RUBY'S CHINESE NEW YEAR
Vickie Lee and Joey Chou are back with another wonderfully illustrated picture book called RUBY’S CHINESE NEW YEAR. It features a little girl named Ruby and her quest to take a letter to her grandma. Every year her grandmother came to visit for Chinese New Year but this year she could not travel and would miss spending the holiday with Ruby.
During Ruby’s journey, she meets the animals of the Chinese zodiac along with a friendly cat. First, she invites cat and rat to join her, then an Ox who gave them a ride as he carried rice cakes and candies to the farmer’s home. Soon after they met a tiger and a rabbit who had streamers flying behind them and a dragon and snake who were making paper lanterns. The happy friends noticed horse and goat grazing in the meadow picking flowers and asked them to join their journey. At the pond, they met a monkey and rooster catching fish for the holiday feast and they tagged along too.
As Ruby swam across the pond, her letter got wet and she thought it ruined everything. Grandma reassured her it wasn’t always about the letter, but about friendship and support because they had everything they needed to have a wonderful New Year. They were happy together.
Chinese New Year is about families uniting to celebrate. However, not everyone can travel for the festivities. Ruby’s thoughtfulness to bring the festivities to her grandma made her happy. Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Age: 2-6
THE RUNAWAY WOK
THE RUNAWAY WOK by Ying Chang Compestine is a Chinese new year tale of hope, love, and family. It features a boy named Ming, whose parents were poor even though they worked for the richest, greediest man in Beijing. On Chinese New Year’s Eve, Ming’s mother sent him to the market to trade some eggs for rice, so they can have food for dinner.
Along the way, he met a man who wanted to trade a rusty, singing wok for the eggs. Ming thought the wok was special so he traded. The wok said, if you clean me you shall have food. Though disappointed, his mother cleaned the wok as instructed and set it on the table, but the wok rolled off the table and heading to the rich boss’ house. Seeing the shiny wok the rich man filled it with food. When full, the wok ran away and brought it’s contents to the poor people in the village. Whenever the wok was empty, it headed to the mean, rich man’s house and gave to the poor, whatever they added to it, including toys and money.
A traditional wok is a symbol of sharing and is a utensil used for the New Year’s Eve feast. The wok brought hope to the people in a time of need. The Runaway Wok gave them a chance to have a wonderful new year and triumphed over evil. The illustrations by Sebastià Serra are vivid and vibrant and captures the essence of the story. Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers Age: 4-8
DUMPLING SOUP
DUMPLING SOUP by Jama Kim Rattigan is a Lunar New Year classic. It features a cute Hawaiian girl named Marisa who awaits her family for the celebration.
They’re not all Chinese, some are Korean, Japanese, Hawaiian and Haole (Hawaiian for white people.) All the aunties gathered to make dumplings on the night before New Year’s Eve. It’s full of gossip. She is super excited to learn to wrap dumplings for dumpling soup. Armed with filling, wrappers and a bowl of finger dripping water, she is ready to begin.
After she plays games with her cousins and take turns hugging grandma, they feast and ate the dumplings they made with all of their family. Her dumplings aren’t perfect, and she’s worried because they look like elephant ears, but her family loved it, and she promises to make even better dumplings next year.
This book is fantastic because Chinese New Year isn’t only celebrated by Chinese but by many cultures. The best part is the recipe for Dumpling Soup at the back of the book. The illustrations by Lilian Hsu-Flanders is amazing and makes you feel like you’re celebrating in Hawaii. Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Age: 4-9
HOME FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR
HOME FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR by Wei Jie and Xu Canis is a delightful story of family and love. Written in both English and Chinese, it features a little boy named Jaijun awaiting the return of his father on Chinese New Year.
His father works at a construction site and was very excited about going home after he got his ticket. When the time came to travel, there were so many people at the train station and everyone rushed.
This book showed the distance a father traveled to get home to see his son. First, by train, then a long-distance bus, followed by a three-wheel motorcycle, a ferryboat and on foot through heavy snow. Along the way, Jaijun’s father lost his water bottle, apple, and scarf, but he made sure to secured Jaijun’s New Year gift in his pocket.
It is a Chinese tradition for everyone to return home on New Year’s Eve to reunite with their family and enjoy a reunion dinner. No matter the circumstance, Jaijun’s father persevered and made it home in time, even though he had to leave soon after.
HOME FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR teaches perseverance and is full of hope and love and portrays the dedication a father has to his son and family. The illustrations are realistic and vibrant and capture the spirit of the entire story. Publisher: Shanghai Press. Age: 4-9
