It's Chinese New Year and there are so many fun things to do - shop at the outdoor market for fresh flowers, eat New Year's dinner with the whole family, receive red envelopes from Grandma and Grandpa, and best of all ... watch the spectacular New Year's parade! Lift the flaps to see all th e special things you can do to celebrate this festive holiday.

It's Chinese New Year and there are so many fun things to do! Shopping at the outdoor market for fresh flowers, eating New Year's dinner with the whole family, receiving red envelopes from Grandma and Grandpa, and best of all-watching the spectacular Chinese New Year's parade! Introduce the customs of Chinese New Year to even the youngest readers with this festive new lift-the-flap book.

This book explores various customs related to Chinese New Year by following an unnamed family as they prepare for and celebrate the holiday. The book is good at not being didactic, but it is a little abrupt at times in terms of transitions. Also, it would have been nice to have some sort of historical note or author's note at the end with more information if the reader wanted to learn more facts about the holiday. It does, however, end with a zodiac wheel to help you identify what animal year you were born in as well as directions to make your own paper bag dragon puppet, both of which would be fun activities to share with small children. The lift-the-flap choices are not the most elegant I've seen, but children love lift-the-flap books so I'm sure they would be delighted with these no matter what. In general the illustrations are eye-catching with pleasing form and bright colors. Overall, this is a pretty decent addition to a home or school lesson or other programming on Chinese New Year. ( )