Saturday, February 2, 2008

Gung Hay Fat Chow! Happy Chinese New Year!

Thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Broward, we were able to host another wonderful event at the library today. To celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, a troupe of dancers from the Coral Springs Chinese Cultural Association performed an amazing lion dance parade. In addition to dancing, the troupe taught the children some Cantonese and answered questions about the Chinese New Year holiday. After the show, we made paper dragon puppets and ate cookies. Over 200 people enjoyed the festivities.

You don't have to know how to read Chinese to learn about the holiday, though. Here are a few of my favorite children's books about Chinese New Year:

*Happy, Happy Chinese New Year by Demi.
*In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord.
*Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year by Kate Waters and Martha Cooper.
*Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn, Cornelius Van Wright, & Ying-Hwa Hu.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!