New Year is based on author/illustrator Rich Lo’s childhood experiences immigrating to America, and it is ultimately a story about being proud of who you are and where you’ve come from.
Chinese New Year 2017 is on Saturday, January 28!
I like to read about different cultures and heritages to my children so that they get a perspective that the holidays we celebrate may not be the same holidays that others celebrate and visa versa. I remember when my husband and I went on our honeymoon (I had just turned 24 years old) and we spent it in Ontario, Canada during Canadian Thanksgiving – which usually falls a little over a month from our American Thanksgiving. We stayed on a little island on Lake Erie and it felt like we had the entire island to ourselves as all the Canadian families were home for the holidays, much like we spend our Thanksgiving in the U.S.A. Did you know that there is also a difference in the date we celebrate the New Year in America than in China, too? That’s exactly the focus of a new book by Sky Pony Press called New Year.
New Year is actually based on the author, Rich Lo’s, personal experience as a boy when his family moves from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, and the young boy begins school in America. He has a hard time adjusting to the English language, the American culture, and the boy’s translator happens to be a young student who is embarrassed to speak her native language at school in front of her friends. The boy feels out of place and alone in his new environment, though his mother assures him he should and will be proud of his Chinese heritage.
That February, the teacher gives the class a homework assignment for the students to come up with a theme to decorate their classroom. The boy drafts sketches of decorations for Chinese New Year and his teacher and classmates are very interested and have so many questions about Chinese New Year for the boy. It’s a learning moment for his class and the boy as he is very happy to answer and share his Chinese heritage with them. The book’s author happens to be a professional artist so we imagined that the sketches he made for the class even at a young age were probably very impressive. Chinese New Year happens to be a holiday that Brooke’s school celebrates, so it was great to have a book that really talked about the culture and how in our country we have immigrants from all over the world and the importance of respecting others cultures and heritage. Love!
About Sky Pony Press: Sky Pony Press, with Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Their list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title they publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, they are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
About the Author: Rich Lo is a professional artist. Born in Canton, China, to an artistic family, his father, Lo Tok, was a famous Chinese opera composer before the family immigrated to the United States. Since attending Eastern Illinois University, Lo has worked on packaging and ads for national brands, books, and large installations in public buildings. He is the author of Father’s Chinese Opera (Sky Pony Press) and lives in Chicago, Illinois.
List Price: $ 16.99 (Available through Amazon Prime)
Momma's Bacon 