Chinese New Year Colors

by Richard Lo

Overview

Celebrate Lunar New Year with a rainbow of traditions in this bilingual board book!

     Hóng is the color of firecrackers! Jīn is the hue of lucky coins. Zŏng is the shade of sweet peanut puffs. Welcome to the festivities of the Chinese New Year, where symbolic gifts, foods, and objects come together in a celebration of beautiful colors.

     This simple and bold bilingual board book is perfect for toddlers and lap sitters.  Each spread focuses on a particular color, giving the name in both Chinese and English, and showcasing a traditional part of the New Year celebration—from paper fans to lion dances.

For older readers, a large-format picture book is also available, which features additional backmatter about the symbols shown.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823447510
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	12/24/2019
Edition description:	Bilingual Edition
Pages:	26
Product dimensions:	4.50(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 2 Years

About the Author

Rich Lo, born in Canton, China, was always drawing and painting with his six siblings. At the age of seven, he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago's Chinatown. An accomplished illustrator and fine artist, his work can be found on packaging and ads for national brands and on large installations in public buildings throughout the Midwest. He is also the illustrator of Mountain Chef and Father's Chinese Opera, which was an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor Book.

Editorial Reviews

"A lovely, surprisingly comprehensive entry into colors and the holiday."—Publishers Weekly

"This simple and beautiful color concept book features large monochromatic watercolor paintings of items commonly used to celebrate Chinese New Year. The eye-catching text is limited to the name of the color in English and Chinese (both in characters and pinyin translation). With one color featured on each spread, the effect is quite striking. . . . The simplicity of the design and concept means even the youngest readers will enjoy this one; it’s also a fun and easy vocabulary lesson for older readers who do not already speak Mandarin." —School Library Journal

"Chinese New Year gets a daring new look. . . . Lo makes sure that no flower, leaf, or curly twirl of its details is omitted. The objects seem to pop due to the skilled shading and tricks of perspective. . . . Bright and bold, this will certainly catch the eye of every reader."—Kirkus Reviews

"From exploding red firecrackers to sweet brown peanut puffs, this festive book presents all the delights of the Chinese New Year. It takes a simple approach, aiming to teach children about the holiday as well as about color words in both English and Chinese. . . . but children will enjoy the vivid pictures of dragons, lucky fish, and more."— Booklist

From the Publisher

2019-09-29
A color-concept book with a bilingual, cultural twist.

Chinese New Year gets a daring new look. A single color dominates a complete page spread. On recto, the name of the featured color in English is displayed on a white background while both the traditional Chinese characters and a romanized rendition, complete with accent marks, appear below in an inverse color scheme. A single cultural object related to Chinese New Year fully occupies the right. Here Lo's talents shine with his renderings. The composition is simple, with the object sitting solo, centered within the line of sight. Artistic liberties are tastefully taken, with the object portrayed in a singular color that is occasionally contrary to tradition. Yet no embellishments are lost in the deceptively spare composition. This is best observed on the portrait of the teapot. Lo makes sure that no flower, leaf, or curly twirl of its details is omitted. The objects seem to pop due to the skilled shading and tricks of perspective. The background itself teems with textures, with occasional splatters of paint, bleeding edges, and blooms of watercolor that unevenly occupy the space. Vocabulary-wise, the only outlier is the use of the word "Cerulean" instead of "light blue," which may require an explanation. A guide describing each object follows.

Bright and bold, this will certainly catch the eye of every reader. (Picture book 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews