MOONBEAMS, DUMPLINGS, & DRAGON BOATS: A TREASURY OF CHINESE HOLIDAY TALE, ACTIVITIES & RECIPES

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simonds, Nina, Swartz, Leslie and The Children’s Museum of Boston. 2002. Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes. Ill. Meilo So. San Diego, New York & London: Gulliver Books. ISBN 0152019839

PLOT SUMMARY
Simonds, Swartz, and The Children’s Museum of Boston come together to explore five major Chinese festivals in this beautifully illustrated book. An extraordinary compilation of traditional tales, hands-on activities and delicious recipes about the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival, Qing Ming and the Cold Foods Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival give readers creative ideas on how to celebrate these Chinese holidays. Readers can enjoy entertaining stories of the Kitchen God and The Tales of Jie Zitui. Simonds, a best-selling cookbook author, offers many tasteful recipes, such as sweet rice balls, tea eggs, fresh spring rolls, and moon cakes that children can make with help from an adult. Families can create fun-filled activities such as paper lanterns, Chinese kites, pinwheels and shadow puppets. Finally, a resource guide to Chinese pronunciation will be of interest to those who would like to learn the Chinese language.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book offers exciting ways on how families can come together to celebrate and embrace the Chinese culture. Every section begins with the history on each of the holidays and the titles on each page are in English and in traditional Chinese writing. The time-honored stories about greedy and shady gods will intrigue and make an interesting read for both children and adults. Also, children will enjoy reading out loud and sharing these stories with their friends and parents. Simonds and Swartz offer simple step by step instructions on how to make almost a dozen mouth-watering recipes. The activities are presented in a straightforward and easy way, so that children will not need adult supervision when constructing these arts and crafts. Readers will like looking over So’s lively and vibrant watercolor illustrations of festivals, picnics, fireworks, dragons, and various types of food. This collection of Chinese folklore and traditions will help show children a fun way of learning the Chinese culture.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Review in Publishers Weekly: “…each of a quartet of holidays includes a brief background and introduces a bevy of crafts, recipes and legends. Step-by step illustrations aid in food preparation or crafts such as New Year Prints or Good Luck Characters in this elegantly designed volume.”
Review in School Library Journal: “Moonbeams is a useful, visually appealing addition to any holiday collection.”

CONNECTIONS
Other books that celebrate the Chinese culture:
Celebrating Chinese New Year, ISBN 0823415201
Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories, ISBN 0804835896
Look What Came From China!, ISBN 0531159361
Tales of a Chinese Grandmother: 30 Traditional Tales from China, ISBN 0804834091
Lao Lao of Dragon Mountain (Folk Tales), ISBN 1840890355