This Next New Year Book

A spunky young boy makes plans for "this next new year" in Janet S. Wong's festive, truly engaging story of the Chinese Lunar New Year, celebrated annually in late January or early February. "And all day tomorrow, Lunar New Year's Day, I will not say one awful thing, none of that can't do/don't have/why me because this is it, a fresh start, my second chance, and I have so many dreams I'm ready now to make come true." So he flosses his teeth and helps his mom scrub the house "rough and raw so it can soak up good luck like an empty sponge," and plans to be brave when his family sets off firecrackers at midnight. The Chinese Korean boy tells us, in a funny, fresh, first-person voice, how his best friends, a German French boy and a Hopi Mexican girl, like to celebrate the Chinese New Year, too. Yangsook Choi's artfully composed, action-packed paintings add uplifting color to the happy spirit of the holiday, and an author's note provides more details about the Chinese New Year and Wong's childhood memories of the celebration. This delightful picture book makes a fine addition to the small collection of Chinese New Year books, distinguishing itself with the narrator's endearingly persistent quest for luck: "They say you are coming into money / when your palms itch, / and my palms have been itching for days. / My brother thinks it's warts, / but I know luck is coming." (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie CoulterRead More