Lunar New Year is next week, so this week’s picture book guide features some of my favorite books to share when learning about this fun holiday. And there’s a freebie!
Let’s start with the picture books I recommend when teaching about the Lunar New Year.
Nian: The Chinese New Year Dragon
Written by Virginia Loh-Hagan; Illustrated by Timothy Banks
This book tells the Chinese New Year legend of a hungry dragon named Nian. Every year, Nian terrorizes a local village, but this year a young girl named Mei learns it is her destiny to defeat the dragon-but she only has 15 days (the length of the New Year celebrations.)
Written by Richard Ho; Illustrated by Jocelyn Li Langrand
One of my favorite things to do when teaching about the Chinese New Year is to share about the Chinese zodiac signs. Students are always so interested in learning what sign they are and what this means. Year of the Cat is a fun take on the story that tells how the zodiac signs came to be. After reading, it would be fun to create an anchor chart like the one below and fill in the traits associated with each sign.
Chinese New Year anchor chart
Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas
Written by Natasha Yim; Illustrated by Grace Zong
Fairy tale retellings with a cultural twist are my favorite! Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas follows the traditional story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but this version features a Chinese New Year celebration! The author’s note at the end of the story also contains a lot of interesting facts about the Chinese New Year that your students will love!
Written by Michelle Sterling; Illustrated by Dung Ho
This brand-new book is going to be a new favorite! A Sweet New Year for Ren is especially good to teach about Lunar New Year, which is a more general term that includes all celebrations marking a new year. It’s about a girl who wants to help her family make pineapple cakes for the Lunar New Year celebrations. The author’s note contains a lot of information about New Year traditions in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia and how pineapple cakes play a role in those traditions. I think students will really love this book because at the heart of the story is a girl who is excited about the annual traditions she looks forward to with her family. This book would be a great one to compare and contrast your country’s New Year celebrations to those of Ren and her family.
Click here to download a free copy of this Lunar New Year graphic organizer. Follow my TpT store for more activities!
Be sure and check out my other picture book guides:
Picture Books to Teach Summarizing
