Genre 2- Traditional Literature Book 3

Traditional Literature Book Review

Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats

A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes

By: Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, & The Boston Children's Museum

Illustrated By: Meilo So

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simonds, Nina and Leslie Swartz. 2002. MOONBEAMS, DUMPLINGS & DRAGON BOATS: A TREASURY OF CHINESE HOLIDAY TALES, ACTIVITIES & RECIPES. Ill. By Meilo So. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN: 0152019839

PLOT SUMMARY
Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, and with the help of The Children’s Musuem of Boston introduce readers to five Chinese festivals. The festivals of the Chinese New Year examined are: The Chinese New Year, The Lantern Festival, Qing Ming and the Cold Foods Festival, The Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Once introduced to each festival, the authors share Chinese folktales, crafts, recipes, games and other engaging activities for the reader to better connect to the highlighted culture.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This culturally authentic account of Chinese celebrations is supported from traditional tales like “The Story of the Kitchen God”. Where Simonds and Swartz tell of the careful watch the Kitchen God has over each family’s New Year’s Destiny. To insure that the Kitchen God only has good things to report families “they slather his lips with honey”. The valuable resource goes on to provide mouth watering recipes such as “Sweet Rice Balls” or keeping little hands busy by making “Paper Lanterns” to carry in the New Year parade. This book goes beyond the traditional literature by introducing children to their Chinese neighbors. This book also acts as cultural resource guide providing a variety of resources and Chinese pronunciation guide for readers.

Meilo So’s vivid water colorings of dragons, kites and firecrackers bring to life the celebrations of the Chinese cultural. The illustrator introduces each new festival with a two page spread of bright, inviting pictures. The bridging of two cultures is seen with each festival’s titles, written both in English typeface and beautiful Chinese Calligraphy by So Hing Bun. The illustrator carries sporadic, whimsical illustrations throughout the book. Some illustrations act as instructional guides for example, showing readers how to make a “shuttlecock” while the rest acting as tour guide through the Chinese cultural celebrations.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
-Starred Review KirKus- No library should be without this well-designed, beautiful, and informative resource.

-Starred Review School Library Journal- Most books for young readers about Chinese holidays stress Chinese New Year; only two others feature the full range of annual festivals.

CONNECTIONS

This book is can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom to reinforce the information learned about the Chinese culture.

Letting the class participate in crafts and recipes will reach more learners. If time constraints apply consider limiting the activities to one craft and one recipe.

The children could contribute to a class cookbook sharing a family recipe from their own culture.

Other Books:

-Stepanchuk, Carol. Red Eggs and Dragon Boats. ISBN 9781881896081
-Louie, Ai-Ling. Yeh-Shen : A Cinderella Story from China. ISBN 9780399215940