Last week, I volunteered to be Mystery Reader at my child’s class. Each Friday, a parent can sign up to read their child’s favorite book to the class. Since it’s almost the Lunar New Year, Ava and I chose the book The Nian Monster, which we’ve been reading frequently at bedtime.
The origin story of Lunar New Year is that the Nian monster would come out every winter for one day, terrorizing entire villages and feating on people, animals and crops. Then one year, a villager discovers the monster’s fears: the color red, loud noises and fire. The people began decorating their homes and doors with red banners and lanterns, using firecrackers, and banging on gongs and drums to ward off the beast — hence why we have Lunar New Year Eve celebrations. In The Nian Monster book, the beast is no longer vulnerable to these old tricks. A little girl in Shanghai learns to use traditional Lunar New Year dishes like longevity noodles, fish and niangao (sticky rice cake) to outsmart the beast and thwart it off until next year.
As a parent, I enjoyed this book for the references to the foods and traditions that I grew up with. The kids in her class loved it too, in part because they got to experience some of the festivities at a LNY celebration our school hosted with lion dances, red lanterns, and drummers. I also prepared hongbao (red envelopes) with stickers inside for all the kids along with lucky mandarin oranges.
It was a really nice morning to spend with my daughter and her class. (She’d been asking me for months if I would be Mystery Reader, and January was the earliest slot I could get!) I could see that she felt special, sitting beside her mom in front of her classmates and sharing a book that excites her.
Other Lunar New Year Books
We chose an The Nian Monster to read to Ava’s english-speaking class. But there are a few other LNY-related books we’ve really loved that are in Mandarin:
The Great Race
By Ling & Eric Lee (authors) and Rachel Foo (illustrator)
Traditional Chinese, English, Pinyin
This has been one of my daughter’s favorite books for awhile. It tells the legend of how 12 animals were selected to become part of the Chinese Zodiac. It’s a simple, playful story with basic chinese vocabulary and is great for 3-5 year olds.
Home for Chinese New Year
By Jie Wei (Author), Can Xu (Illustrator)
Simplified Chinese, English
Jia Jun’s father works far away from home, that he can only return to visit his family once a year. He travels by train, bus, motorcycle and foot to reunite with his young son for the New Year, only to have to leave for work a few days later. Like many workers in China, this is a common way of life. And like many Chinese stories, while heartwarming, this book is also sad! But we also very much enjoyed reading it. In the book, Jia Jun’s dad keeps losing items during his travel, and our daughter liked looking for where he dropped them.
十二生肖的故事 (The Tale of the 12 Zodiac Animals)
By Ma Lai
Simplified Chinese
We just bought this book at the recommendation of Chalk Academy which is a great resource for introducing Mandarin to your children. Our daughter loves the story of the zodiac animals, so we thought we’d try another version. I feel the telling of this story is more complete, but it’s not available in pinyin and the vocabulary may be more advanced than The Great Race. Luckily, our good friends at Ya Ya Preschool have posted a read-a-loud of the book!
Lunar New Year in NYC
This Wednesday is officially the Lunar New Year, but celebrations have been underway for awhile. If you’re in NYC, here’s a shortlist of festivities you can still partake in.
Midnight Madness - Chinese New Year’s Eve Parade
Tuesday January 28, 2025 from 10:30pm - 1am
211 Canal St / 22 Mott St
For those with enough stamina to be out this late, this lion dance team will assemble at the Athletic Club at 211 Canal Street to prepare for a new Lion to be blessed.
At 10:30 PM, the Lions will make their way down the stairs and out the door. Taking to the streets, parading down Canal St. then turning on Mott St. to the Chinese Freemasons Association at 22 Mott Street. The performance will take place at 12AM in front of the Association before the team turns around to return back to the Athletic Club.
Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival
Wednesday January 29, 2025
11am - 3:30pm, firecracker launch ~12pm
Sara D. Roosevelt Park at Chrystie and Grand Streets
Scare away evil spirits and welcome the Year of the Snake!
Lunar New Year Family Festival at The Moca
February 1, 2025
Morning Sesh: 10am – 1pm
Afternoon Sesh: 2pm – 5pm
The Moca at 215 Centre St
Get your fill of lion dances, fan dances, tang yuan, paper cutting, mask making, and more. Tickets are just $7.18/person.
February 7 - 9, 11am - 7pm
Gotham Park at Rose St and Avenue of the Finest
Super Saturday Lion Dance Parade
February 8: 10am - 5pm
Over 20 lion dance groups, each with their own unique style and energy, will parade through the greater Chinatown area. I’ve heard the key is to plan for a sit-down lunch at a C-town restaurant. Chances are high that lion dancers will come in to perform, bless the business and receive hongbao in return.
Note that this is different than the Lunar New Year Parade on February 15, which is a float parade with barricades.
Chinatown’s Lunar New Year Parade
February 16, starts at 1pm
Parade route: Heads down Mott Street from Hester St to Chatham Square to East Broadway toward the Manhattan Bridge, completing on Forsyth Street near Grand Street and Sara D. Roosevelt Park
Festival booths from 11:30am - 3:30pm
Bayard St btwn Mulberry and Mott
Signing off for another school holiday.
Jenn & Kim