About the Holiday
Chinese New Year celebrations began on the eve of January 28, ushering in the Year of the Rooster. Also known as the Spring Festival, the New Year is a time for festivities including lion and dragon dances, fireworks, visiting friends and relatives, family meals, and special decorations.The New Year is the busiest travel season of the year as family members return home to spend the holiday with loved ones. The Chinese New Year celebrations end on the 15th day of the new year with the Lantern Festival. People born in the Year of the Rooster are said to be honest, energetic, intelligent, flexible, and confident.
A New Year’s Reunion
Written by Yu Li-Qiong | Illustrated by Zhu Cheng-Liang
Maomao’s papa works far away as a house builder and can only return home once a year—during Chinese New Year. Today, Maomao and her mother wake up early and get ready because “Papa is coming home.” When Papa arrives, Maomao peers at her father from a distance. He seems unfamiliar, and when he picks her up in his arms she calls for her mama in alarm. But Papa has come with gifts—a hat for Maomao and a coat for Mama.
Image copyright Yu Li-Qiong, 2011, courtesy of Candlewick Press
After catching up and eating lunch, Papa takes Maomao with him to the barber shop, where he gets a haircut and a shave. As Maomao watches, the Papa in the mirror is getting more like Papa the way he used to be.” Back home, Papa helps the family decorate their house and later they make sticky rice balls for the next day. “Papa buries a coin in one of the balls and says, ‘Whoever finds the ball with the coin will have good luck.’” As she falls asleep to the whispers of her parents, Maomao hears firecrackers snapping in the night air.
Image copyright Yu Li-Qiong, 2011, text copyright Zhu Cheng-Liang, 2013. Courtesy of Candlewick Press.
In the morning while eating the sticky rice balls, Maomao bites down on something hard. “‘The fortune coin! It’s the fortune coin!’” she exclaims. Her papa tells her to put it in her pocket so that the good luck will not escape. She places it in her coat pocket and then they all join the crowd in the square going on holiday visits. On the way she meets her friend Dachun, who shows her the red envelope he has gotten. Maomao proudly shows Dachun her lucky coin.
On the second day of New Year’s while Papa is doing chores around the house, he takes his little daughter to the roof. From here she can see Dachun’s house and hear the dragon dance over on Main Street. Maomao stands on tiptoe as tall as she can, but she can’t see the parade. Papa swings her onto his shoulders. “‘Now can you see it?’ he asks. ‘Yes, I can. They’re coming!’” she answers with excitement.
Image copyright Yu Li-Qiong, 2011, courtesy of Candlewick Press
The third day of New Year’s brings snow, and Maomao, Dachun, and the other neighborhood children build a tall snowman and have a snowball fight in the courtyard. When Maomao comes in at the end of the day, she reaches into her coat pocket, but her fortune coin is gone! She runs outside, but the courtyard is covered in snow, and she can’t find it anywhere. Papa tries to give her another coin, but it isn’t the same.
Later, feeling miserable, Maomao climbs into bed and takes off her jacket. Suddenly, she hears a clink as something falls to the floor. “‘It’s the coin! My fortune coin!’” she cries. ‘‘Papa come quick—come and see! I haven’t lost the fortune coin. It’s been with me all the time.’” Maomao falls asleep happy. The next morning, she wakes to see Mama packing Papa’s things. Soon, he will return to work. He crouches down and with a promise to bring Maomao a doll hugs her tight. But Maomao shakes her head. “‘I want to give you something…,’” she says. She puts the coin in Papa’s hand and tells him, “‘Here, take this. Next time you’re back, we can bury it in the sticky rice ball again!’” Papa is silent and gives Maomao another hug before they say goodbye for another year.
Image copyright Yu Li-Qiong, 2011, courtesy of Candlewick Press
Yu Li-Qiong’s touching story of a little girl’s reunion with the father she rarely sees is a heartfelt reminder that love continues over miles and days or months. Just as the fortune coin was with Maomao all the time, Maomao’s papa is always in her heart and she in his. Little ones, especially, will be captivated by the day-to-day activities of Maomao’s New Year festivities and appreciate the importance of her coin. Li-Qiong’s sweet story, filled with homey details of child and parent interactions, resonates beyond the holiday theme of the story and is a beautiful book for the many children who have parents who travel frequently with their jobs.
The quiet grace and wonder of Zhu Cheng-Liang’s gouache illustrations perfectly convey the loving relationship between father and daughter and the excitement of a family being together after a long absence. Although the Chinese New Year provides a frame for the story, Cheng-Liang’s paintings predominately focus on the day-to-day activities Maomao and her papa share—getting a haircut, fixing the house, cooking, meeting and playing with friends, and special hugs—emphasizing the universal scope of the story. The enchantment of the New Year’s festivities shines in a two-page spread where a fiery red-and-orange dragon puppet cavorts over the village bridge followed by a throng of people as others watch from homes and windows. Adorable Maomao may raise a lump in readers throats as she hugs her papa and gives him her treasured fortune coin.
A brief Author’s Note following the text pays tribute to the millions of migrant workers in China who often do not see their families except once each year.
A New Year’s Reunion would be a welcome book on any child’s bookshelf as a reminder that love overcomes any absence, long or short.
Ages 3 – 7
Candlewick Press, 2011 | ISBN 978-076366748
Chinese New Year Activity
Lantern Festival Coloring Page
Chinese New Year festivities end with a brilliant festival of lights. Enjoy this printable Lantern Festival Coloring Page to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
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Picture Book Review
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