Storytime: Lunar New Year
I’m hosting a special, virtual storytime this morning for my library in celebration of Lunar New Year! There aren’t a ton of Lunar New Year books available and most are specifically about Chinese New Year which is only one of many countries that celebrate Lunar New Year! Vietnam, Korea, Tibet and others all celebrate Lunar New Year. Typically at the same time – usually in late January into the middle of February based on a lunar calendar, hence the name.
Because we’re hosting this storytime over Zoom, it’s a little different from our regular storytime. We are limited to a computer screen, so we can’t move around as much and we aren’t handing out shaker eggs or rhythm sticks to the kids. But, we’ve been getting a decent crowd for these storytimes and the kids are still participating at home which is awesome!
One of my pages (high school kids who shelve books a few hours a week) is going to be helping me today. She’ll read the stories (in one office) and I’ll do all the transition activities between the stories (in my office). I’m going to book talk a few picture books that have been written or illustrated by Asian or Asian American authors and illustrators at the end and I’m also going to email all the families the list I provided below (just a few of the many books available). I’m hoping to encourage families to come into the library and check out some of these books in the coming weeks!
Storytime: Lunar New Year
- Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua
- Bringing In the New Year by Grace Lin
- Chinese New Year Colors by Rich Lo
- D Is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Yongsheng Xuan
- Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim, illustrated by Grace Zong
- Maisy’s Chinese New Year by Lucy Cousins
- My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz
- Ten Mice for Tet by Pegi Deitz Shea and Cynthia Weill, illustrated by Ngọc Trang Tô and Phạm Viết Đinh
- This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Yangsook Choi
Songs
- Five Little Firecrackers – The Librarian Is On the Loose
Perfect for anytime fireworks are used as part of a celebration! And you can make easy flannel board pieces to go along! - Let’s Wave and Say Ni Hao – Poudre River Public Library District
- What a great way to incorporate a little language lesson into storytime!
- Lion Dance Song – Talk Story Together
A simple song to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb that combines the lion and firecrackers.
Activities
- Dragon Puppet – Red Ted Art
This is a super cute puppet made with some paper, popsicle sticks, and some coloring! - Fire Breathing Dragon – One Little Project
This is sure to be a hit as a craft and toy! - Paper Lanterns – Blissful Domestication
Simple and fun to make, they’d be so pretty on the table for dinner!
Additional Titles
- Drawn Together by Minh Lê
- A Different Pond by Bao Phi
- No Kimchi for Me by Aram Kim
- A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
- Wallpaper by Thao Lam
- Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon
- I Really Want to See You, Grandma by Taro Gomi
- Ten Days and Nine Nights: An Adoption Story by Yumi Heo
- Gurple & Preen: A Broken Crayon Cosmic Adventure by Linda Sue Park
- Ninja! By Arree Chung
You can also check out the storytime I created last year for Lunar New Year as well!
