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THE LUCKY RED ENVELOPE

A LIFT-THE-FLAP LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

Interactive and densely packed with information and images.

A young Chinese girl and her family celebrate the Lunar New Year Festival in this lift-the-flap book.

Readers see what Yue’s family does on each day of the festival and learn the meaning behind various symbols and objects, resulting in an extremely comprehensive overview of the holiday. Red and yellow hues dominate Zhang’s bustling images, which burst with details to be pored over: the candles the family lights for the kitchen god; the sumptuous pork buns, candied lotus root, and eight treasure rice pudding they eat; and, of course, the red envelopes filled with money that are handed out to the children as gifts. Dozens of delicately illustrated elements are clustered on every page, with household objects, festive decorations, or celebratory symbols and patterns covering all available space. In addition to the few paragraphs of main text on each spread, small captions highlight specific items of cultural interest or ask readers to look for objects. Twelve flaps on each spread take the learning and looking even further. Some simply reveal the inside of the object on the flap, others explain a new concept, and some contain a seek-and-find item. Depending on readers’ attention span, this level of detail and visual miscellany may be overwhelming, or it may prove fascinating, worthy of many rereads.

Interactive and densely packed with information and images. (Novelty picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023

ISBN: 9780711285927

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions

Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023

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CELEBRATE KWANZAA

WITH CANDLES, COMMUNITY, AND THE FRUITS OF THE HARVEST

From the Holidays Around the World series

A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for.

An overview of the modern African-American holiday.

This book arrives at a time when black people in the United States have had intraracial—some serious, some snarky—conversations about Kwanzaa’s relevance nowadays, from its patchwork inspiration that flattens the cultural diversity of the African continent to a single festive story to, relatedly, the earnest blacker-than-thou pretentiousness surrounding it. Both the author and consultant Keith A. Mayes take great pains—and in painfully simplistic language—to provide a context that attempts to refute the internal arguments as much as it informs its intended audience. In fact, Mayes says in the endnotes that young people are Kwanzaa’s “largest audience and most important constituents” and further extends an invitation to all races and ages to join the winter celebration. However, his “young people represent the future” counterpoint—and the book itself—really responds to an echo of an argument, as black communities have moved the conversation out to listen to African communities who critique the holiday’s loose “African-ness” and deep American-ness and moved on to commemorate holidays that have a more historical base in black people’s experiences in the United States, such as Juneteenth. In this context, the explications of Kwanzaa’s principles and symbols and the smattering of accompanying activities feel out of touch.

A good-enough introduction to a contested festivity but one that’s not in step with the community it’s for. (resources, bibliography, glossary, afterword) (Nonfiction. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4263-2849-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: National Geographic Kids

Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017

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DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS

From the Celebrate the World series

Pass.

The traditions and history of one of Mexico’s most important holidays are introduced in this latest of Eliot’s Celebrate the World series.

From setting up the flower-festooned altars to decorating the calaveras, the preparations depicted involve entire communities over several weeks. Characters in cowboy hats, sombreros, and baseball caps place the final touches on skeletons in full lucha libre regalia or spangled mariachi outfits. However, instead of accurately using Mexico’s name for the holiday, Día de Muertos, Eliot uses the English back-translation, “Día de los Muertos,” as is common in the U.S. even though the story evidently takes place in Mexico. Also, aside from stating that the celebration “is an ancient tradition,” there is no mention of its Indigenous, pre-European/Christian roots nor does the book actively distinguish between Día de Muertos and Halloween. The first-person narration vacillates between child and adult perspectives. “We do all this to celebrate the beauty of life and death rather than mourn it.” Gutierrez’s mixed-media illustrations are convulsive, crowded panes of frenetic activity. Exaggerated facial features border on stereotypical caricatures—snouts and bug eyes abound. Contributing to the crowded page design is the unfortunate choice of board rather than picture-book format. Consequently, the initial perception is that this series is geared toward toddlers, when it is the school-age child who would most benefit from the information in this book.

Pass. (Board book. 4-7)

Pub Date: July 24, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5344-1515-7

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019

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