My Lunar New Year book list — from childhood to today
February 12, 2021
External relations director, DC
Today marks the start of the Lunar New Year. In my household, our New Year’s traditions include wearing new clothes, eating a piece of sugar cane first thing in the morning, and not showering on the day of Lunar New Year to avoid washing away our luck. We also eat Chinese New Year cake, nian gao, and other sweets like oranges and starburst to ensure a sweet new year.
Growing up both Jewish and Chinese, my mother made it a point to make sure that both parts of my heritage were equally represented in my life, and that included the books we kept on our shelves.
My favorite book was Mei Li by Thomas Handforth published in 1938. Mei Li follows a girl who wants to attend Chinese New Year festivities but is not invited because girls are not allowed to attend, but sneaks out and goes with her brother anyway and has a great adventure. Beautiful black and white brushstroke illustrations fill the book.
In honor of the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in China, here are the books that still line the shelves of my childhood bedroom back home.
Children’s Books
Er-lang and the Suns, A Tale from China retold by Tony Guo and Euphine Cheung
Tye May and the Magic Brush by Molly Garrett Bang
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
Disney’s Mulan
China’s Bravest Girl, the Legend of Hua Mu Lan told by Charlie Chin
The Empty Pot by Demi
The Artist and the Architect by Demi
Demi’s Dragons and Fantastic Creatures
The Treasure Chest, a Chinese Tale retold by Rosalind C. Wang
Dragon Kite of the Autumn Moon by Valerie Reddix
The Five Chinese Brothers
The Topsy-Turvy Emperor of China by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Dragon’s Robe by Deborah Nourse Lattimore
The Journey of Meng by Doreen Rappaport
The Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan
The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher
The Dragon’s Pearl by Julie Lawson and Paul Morin
The Moon Lady by Amy Tan
Mei Li by Thomas Handforth
Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat by Jennifer Armstrong
One Small Girl by Jennifer L. Chan
Young Adult Books
American Dragons, 25 Asian American Voices edited by Laurence Yep
The Moon Guitar by Marie Niemeyer
The Golem & the Dragon Girl by Sonia Levitin
First Apple by Ching Yeung Russell
Folktale of China edited by Wolfram Eberhard
Chinese Fairy Tales & Fantasies translated & edited by Moss Roberts
Books about the Chinese New Year
Dragon Parade by Steven A. Chin
A Visit to China by Mary Packard
Chinese New Year by Tricia Brown
Adults Books
The Joy Luck Club: A Novel by Amy Tan