The Night Before Lunar New Year

I love this book. It really explains key information about how Lunar New Year is celebrated. It helped my students understand the holiday. We paired it with a cute video and some worksheets.

I got this book to read to my first graders. They enjoyed it and I liked the information shared in this book.

I bought book to learn about Lunar New Year traditions. Any child or young adult should enjoy this book with its information and illustrations.

Why all the people in this book all with triangle and small eyes? We Asian have all kinds of eyes. I check other books the author depicted, all looks normal, why it’s totally different when it comes to Asian culture? As a book for children, it’s unbearable to allow this type stereotype existed. As an Asian myself, I feel really uncomfortable with it. Can’t believe in 2024 already we still have to deal with this. On one hand you don’t respect us and our culture, on the other you still want to make money out of it. So sick of it!!!

This is the first book that I have read from Natasha Wing's extensive "The Night Before " collection. Each book tells a story that is centered around a holiday or event and is written in a rhyme scheme reminiscent of Clement Moore's classic "Night Before Christmas". In this story, coauthored by Lingfeng Ho, a young family prepares for Lunar New Year and then celebrates the next day. The book does a great job of showing several important customs, but weaves it with an issue that any child can appreciate. Like many youngsters, Mei Mei is afraid of loud noises. I like that she comes up with a solution for coping with the firecracker noise all on her own. Although the rhyme scheme faulters on a few pages, Wing sticks to the rhythm most of the time. I have read quite a few picture books that attempt to copy the original poem, and she does a better job than most. This book will be loved by any young child who celebrates the Lunar New Year. Other readers will enjoy the book too. Amy Wummer's artistry is adorable. I only have one minor complaint, an issue that appears frequently in many multicultural books that are written for and by that group. Readers could benefit from a glossary or author's note. Like many other books for this holiday, the Chinese terms used for the elder family members are obvious from context. But it isn't obvious to someone unfamiliar with the culture that Ge Ge and Mei Mei are not the children's names but terms for older brother and little sister. I only realized that when I came across them in other picture books for the holiday. Over all, I highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to read a Lunar New Year story.

Good small book for children about Chinese New Year traditions with amazing drawings. Now, if you want to escape the usual preparations for CNY and read an original story about CNY, I recommend "The Chinese New Year's Ghost".