A Colorful Kid's Book of Chinese Festivals, for Christmas
By CAI MALI
(Virtual China News, Dec. 12) Give a child a head start on the Chinese New Year (which begins next February 5) with this charming, colorful book of Chinese celebrations. Folklorist Carol Stepanchuk explains the tales and traditions of five of the most important Chinese festivals, beginning with the Chinese New Year and ending with the Autumn Moon Festival.
Also included are three festivals that do not originate with the lunar calendar: Clear Brightness Holiday (or grave-sweeping day, a day to honor ancestors, picnic, and fly kites); Red Egg and Ginger Party (when a new baby is named and welcomed); and the Dragon Boat Festival (with races to commemorate the ancient poet Qu Yuan).
This delightful book offers simple descriptions of the background and special significance of Chinese customs, folk tales, and easy recipes for dishes such as long life noodles and dragon boat dumplings. Young readers will learn about the animals of the Chinese zodiac and the traits associated with them; the role of the Kitchen God at Chinese New Year (he travels up to Heaven to report on families' good and bad deeds), and the story of the hungry river dragon.
The kids will also discover why people eat fish and melon and lotus seeds during the Chinese New Year festival (their names all sound like other words meaning plenty -- as in plenty of money, luck, and children); why tiger shoes for babies have eyes (they guard little ones from tripping as they learn to walk); and why you'll see symbols of creepy critters -- snakes, lizards, frogs, scorpions, and centipedes -- decorating all sorts of things during the Dragon Boat Festival (in traditional China, people wore amulets of the "five poisons" to protect them from danger and disease in the steamy weather at this time of year).
Richly illustrated with Chinese folk art depicting farm life and scenes of village celebrations, the book is also sprinkled with beautiful examples of Chinese characters and couplets. Children of all ages will be enchanted by the pictures. Children of seven and above will be able to follow the text, which is both educational and lots of fun.
Also by Carol Stepanchuk for adult readers:
Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts: Festivals of China, with Charles Wong
China Books and Periodicals, Pb 1992
Price on Amazon: Pb $14.95
