Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds
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Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds
Season 4 Episode #29 A New Year's Reunion Book Review
Discover the warmth and depth of the Chinese New Year as I, Jebeh Edmonds, bring to light the poignant story of "A New Year's Reunion." This narrative, lovingly crafted by Yu Li-Kuang with illustrations by Zhu Cheng-Liang, beautifully unfolds the tender moments between a little girl named Mao Mao and her father, showcasing the time-honoured customs of the Lunar New Year. From haircuts to home cleaning and the delightful tradition of making sticky rice balls, this episode promises to immerse you in a festival rich with emotion and cultural significance. You'll be touched by the resilience of families who endure separation and cherish reunions, a universal experience that transcends borders.
For those eager to broaden their horizons, I'll also guide you through the grand tapestry of Lunar New Year celebrations that span beyond a single day, contrasting its festivities with those of New Year's celebrations in the United States. From the Spring Festival's kickoff to the Lantern Festival's close, I'll unravel the lunar calendar's influence, the zodiacal beliefs, and how these traditions vary yet resonate across Asian cultures. And for educators, I offer a treasure trove resource that brings global celebrations like the Lunar New Year into the classroom, enriching young minds from kindergarten through fifth grade with the joy and learning that come with international holidays. Join me for an episode that's not just an exploration, but an experience of the Lunar New Year's splendor.
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Are you looking for a really nice, heartfelt story of a little girl who reunites with her father on Chinese New Year? This book is for you A New Year's Reunion, written by Yu Li-Kuang and illustrated by Zhu Cheng-Liang. Hello everyone, welcome to the Cultural Curriculum Chat. I am Jeba Edmonds and I am excited to share with you a phenomenal book today. This is a wonderful title of a little girl who gets a little standoffish when she sees her dad and all of his scruff in his beard. And you get to learn the various traditions in the Chinese New Year. And the coolest thing is about this is when the father arrives. Mao Mao doesn't recognize him at first. He sees the stubble and he looks at her, gives her a big hug and he goes okay, let's go get our hair cut. To show that people in Asian cultures, they start to clean their homes from top to bottom. They make all the necessary repairs, they get haircuts, they get in their best outfits for celebrating the new year that is about to come in.
Speaker 0:A new thing that I learned by reading this book is that Mao Mao and her father, they start making sticky rice balls together for their feast. Her father shows her this coin that they bake in to one of the rice balls and he tells his daughter that the one person that bites into the coin and I quote, whoever finds the ball with the coin will have good luck. And you hear all of the fun celebrations of the fireworks, going outside and the firecrackers and going to see family and getting new gifts. And Mao Mao was visiting with friends and just having a good time and she kept that coin that she found when she bit into the ball and put it in her pocket and that is her fortune coin and her father says to keep it close so you don't waste your fortune. So, like all kids do, they go about their day and they get scared when they lose things, just like Mao Mao felt scared. I don't want to give away too much, but it does have a joyous ending and something that is really sweet that Mao Mao does when she gets to send her father back out on the road to do his work. It just really ties into families that have grownups in their lives that work long distance and they don't get to see each other very often and the longing to see each other and be reunited again is just very heartwarming. This book really does that and it also celebrates the Lunar New Year, which we have every year around the world.
Speaker 0:According to USA Today, the Lunar New Year is going to be this year on February 10th. The Lunar New Year goes by the phases of the moon's 12 phases. It generally falls during the last 10 days of January or the first 10 days of February. The neat thing about it is Lunar New Year goes beyond just one day in comparison to our United States New Year celebration. It also begins with the Spring Festival and it ends with the Lantern Festival. So in 2024, the Lunar New Year starts February 10th and then it will end on Saturday, february 24th.
Speaker 0:A lot of Asian cultures celebrate it and it varies between each country, but the significance still remains the same and it still symbolizes ringing in the New Year and letting go of the past.
Speaker 0:And so this book, like I shared with you before a New Year's reunion, we'll have a wonderful introduction of the lunar new year with your students.
Speaker 0:Another cool thing with the lunar new year is that they follow the Chinese zodiac and, like I said, different countries in the Asian continent have similar zodiacs and similar animals that represent each year, according to Chinese culture and the Chinese zodiac, people born in the year of the dragon are seen as charismatic, intelligent, confident and naturally lucky and gifted, and I will have more on this information of the Chinese new year USA Today article in the show notes. If you educators are looking to expand on your classroom lessons, especially celebrating holidays around the world, I have a unit called Celebrating the Holidays Around the World. It's a wonderful workbook and lesson plan for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Students will learn about holidays like the lunar new year and the festivals around the world that I have featured. I have over 13 different holidays celebrated around the world, and included will be a slide show presentation and a workbook that you can make your classroom more interactive of what they're going to learn.
Speaker 0:A New Year's Reunion by Yu Ling-Kiang and Zhu Cheng-Liang wherever books are sold. That's all I have for you today, folks, and I will see you here same time next week. Bye, bye.