Sweet Laba Congee

by Qiusheng Zhang, Chengliang Zhu (Illustrator)

Overview

Yan’er is excited to help her grandmother prepare Laba congee for the Laba congee festival. It’s a lot of work—organizing, cleaning, and preparing the ingredients, then cooking it on a wood-burning stove. It smells so good, even a puppy can’t resist the aroma. Then Yan’er must carry some of the Laba congee to share with men and women in the village. And after she finally fills her own belly, Yan’er discovers that leftover Laba congee has other uses, too.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478869344
Publisher:	Reycraft Books
Publication date:	05/22/2020
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Qiusheng Zhang is a renowned children’s writer and poet. He has worked in children’s publishing for over forty years and published over seventy fairy tale, poetry, and prose collections.

Editorial Reviews

2020-03-25
A small child shows readers how their family celebrates the traditional Chinese Laba Festival.

In what looks like a small Chinese village, the young protagonist introduces readers to the Laba Festival, celebrated on the eighth day of the 12th month of the lunar year. Through deceptively simple poetic prose and whimsical typesetting, readers learn that making sweet laba congee, a tasty porridge made from many valuable ingredients, is a highlight of the holiday. The family prepares the ingredients the day before and then cooks it on a traditional wood-burning stove (not their new gas stove) to guarantee that “it will be perfect.” Then they use it as an offering to their ancestors, asking for good luck for themselves and their family, including the child’s father, who is “working in a different city.” They take some in a pot to elderly neighbors, and they smear it on the big persimmon tree that grows in the yard of their home compound. Most importantly, the grandmother, mother, and child sit to enjoy it together. Delicate and charming illustrations of village life recall an earlier time, but hints like having a gas stove and an uncle away at university indicate that this may be a deliberate nod to those who live in poorer conditions right now.

Sweet and simple, like a warm bowl of laba congee on a cold day. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews