It's a wonderful new year

Ying Chang Compestine (author)
Tungwai Chau (illustrator)
The Runaway Rice Cake
Simon and Schuster, 2001

The Chang family—Poppa, Momma, and three boys Ming, Cong, and Da—gather to celebrate the new year and share their impoverished meal of a single rice cake, or níangāo. But that dastardly cake (he must be related to the gingerbread man) jumps up and runs away. After giving chase through the town, the rice cake eventually consents to being captured and eaten not by the Chang family but by an old, hungry lady. The family sees that her need is greater than their own, and they return home rather dejectedly. But, surprise! Their compassion is repaid by neighbors who bring a little of this and a little of that to share. And when a magic bowl erupts with a feast, why, even Jimmy Stewart could have a place at the table. Ying Chang Compestine's story is fun and jubilant, and only a spoilsport (moi?) would point out that the upbeat action and rosy pictures undercut the Chang family's poverty. Recipes for níangāo follow the story.

Not Zhuangzi's happiness of fish

Nathan Zimelman (author)

Julie Downing (illustrator)

The Great Adventure of Wo Ti

Macmillan, 1992

For certain individuals, a life of ease generates its own un-ease. So it is for the biggest, fattest carp dwelling in the pond of the paradisiacal Summer Palace. Wo Ti's constant searching is a bother to the other fish, and it comes to an end only when Wo Ti hatches a plan to rid the pond of an intrusive cat, Kitty Ho. In a light and fanciful manner, Nathan Zimelman shows us how some (all?) of us need a little drama, adrenaline, and relief to nudge us into a satisfying state of mind.

Hopeful thinking

Niimi Nankichi (author)

Kuroi Ken (illustrator)

Judith Carol Huffman (translator)

Buying Mittens

University of Hawaii, 1999

Like a blanket of fresh snow, Kuroi Ken's soft, pastel images envelope the reader in a dreamy world. In this wintry dream world, the shape-shifting fox is not a threatening enchantress, but an innocent fox-child who suffers from cold paws. Its mother transforms one paw into a hand, and sends her babe to town with strict instructions to buy mittens. When the babe mistakenly shows its paw instead of its hand, humanity is put to a test. Will they or will they not choose to live in harmony with the fox?

perfectly imperfect

Mark Reibstein (author)
Ed Young (illustrator)
Wabi Sabi
Little Brown, 2008

In words and images, Wabi Sabi transcends our limited, typical notions of what a children's story and picture book can be. Poetry, philosophy, and art come together in a sumptuous feast. The images are colorful, but never cloying. The texts are simple, but never simplistic. The book's vertical orientation and large format invite the reader to take a brief refuge from the harried pace and endless demands of modern life. Young readers will warm to Mark Reibstein's story of Wabi Sabi, a cat with a quest to understand the meaning of her name. Ed Young's collages (some of his finest work) are studies in the wabi-sabi aesthetic. Enthusiasts of Japanese culture will appreciate the notes to Basho's poems, which appear throughout the book.

Double Fifth

Arlene Chan (author)
Song Nan Zhang (illustrator)
Awakening the Dragon: The Dragon Boat Festival
Tundra, 2004

  The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, Chinese around the world will celebrate the Dragon Boat festival. This year, the holiday falls on June 16, and I hope to be eating azuki bean dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves under a bright sun while thinking of Qu Yuan, the loyal minister who drowned himself in the Miluo River as an act of political protest.
  Arlene Chan's book introduces the symbols and activities related to the festival in a well-rounded if a bit static way. Song Nan Zhang's images add color and drama. His image of a theatrical portrayal of the eye-popping demon queller Zhongkui just about leaps off the page.

New Year primer

Demi

Happy, Happy Chinese New Year!

Crown, 1997

Demi's deep reservoir of talent for storytelling and illustrating goes untapped in this diminutive book that tries, it seems to me, to be all things to all readers. Various traditions and foods associated with the Chinese new year are covered in an obligatory manner. If you're looking for introductory knowledge about this holiday, you'll find it in Happy, Happy Chinese New Year!, but to appreciate Demi's gifts, I would urge you to try another of her many books, such as The Empty Pot or Su Dongpo. 

A game for the generations

Ginnie Lo (author)
Beth Lo (illustrator)
Mahjong All Day Long
Walker, 2005

With retro, Chinese-primer style illustrations and vernacular Chinese phrases, Mahjong All Day Long immediately transported me back in time to happy weekends when my parents and grandparents played round after round of májiàng 麻將. Ginnie Lo captures the memories of smells (tea and dumplings), tastes and textures (cracking roasted watermelon seeds), and sounds (slightly out-of-tune singing to the karaoke machine, thunderous shuffling of mahjong tiles, and exclamations of pòng! or húle!). At the book's end, there is a list of instructional books for those who would like to learn to play.