Red Eggs and Dragon Boats: Celebrating Chinese Festivals - Hardcover

Grade 3-6-A look at four Chinese celebrations. Information is meager with less than a page of text for three of the holidays. The description of the New Year is longer as it encompasses the Lantern Festival and includes a handy two-page spread on the Chinese zodiac. To flesh out the presentation, a folktale and recipe are included for each festival except the Moon Festival, for which two folktales are included, one of which is more of a joke. Recipes are "adapted" from adult cookbooks, which means, for the most part, that they have added the caveat, "Make sure a grownup has looked over the recipe and can help...." One calls for deep-frying, which is risky business for children even with supervision. A chapter on the celebration for the completion of a baby's first month is included, although this is hardly a festival. Vignettes appearing in the margins, with black-and-white illustrations, deal with tangential topics. Some succeed, while others fail. The description of the Chinese calendar makes it sound haphazard; the Chinese characters on one page are reversed, and the accompanying text is confusing. The 11, full-page, full-color pictures in folk style are stunning in their vibrancy. These are by contemporary Chinese women artists and have formed part of a touring exhibit. A calendar made from these same illustrations is more effective than this book.
John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3-6. This attractive introduction to Chinese festivals describes five traditional celebrations: the New Year with its Lantern Festival, the Clear Brightness Festival, a Full Month Red Egg and Ginger Party (for a new baby), the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Moon Festival. In addition to explaining why and how each is celebrated, Stepanchuk includes recipes for appropriate foods, explanations of traditional practices and broader facets of Chinese culture, and folktales related to festivals. Illustrations include line drawings, decorative Chinese characters, and colorful paintings created by folk artists from two different regions of China. Simple in form yet dynamic in spirit, these illustrations give the book a distinctive look. A worthwhile introduction to China through its festivals. Carolyn Phelan