A New Year's Reunion

by Yu Li-Qiong, Zhu Cheng Liang (Illustrator)

Maomao's father works far away and comes home only at Chinese New Year. When Papa arrives, Maomao hardly recognizes him at first. But before long, the family is making sticky rice balls, hearing the firecrackers, and watching the dragon dance in the street. Maomao loves doing ordinary things with Papa - getting a haircut, fixing things around the house, and sleeping tucked between her parents. But all too soon it is time for Papa to go away again.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Holiday, China, Cultural, Fiction

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Yu Li Qiong was born in Anqing in the People's Republic of China in 1980. She holds a BA in literature from Nanjing University and an MA in dramatic art. Yu Li Qiong lives in China.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an eye opener for me. This father comes home once a year for 3-4 days. The blurb at the end says that millions of dad's have to do this in China. I don't understand why you wouldn't move the family with you. These men are building things. This would be so difficult. Wow.

This is also about Chinese New Year. I appreciate this holiday as it is all about Red- my favorite color and about a new year. There is much for ritual in this culture around New Years. I believe this is the year of the Rooster.

The kids were confused by the father not living with them. I enjoyed the colors in this book and the simple way the story was told.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in China as 团圆 - transliterated as tuán​yuán, it literally means "to have/having a reunion" - this award-winning picture-book features a poignant family tale from author Li Qiong Yu, and beautiful gouache illustrations from artist Zhu Chen Liang, both of whom reside in Nanjing. It is the story of Maomao, a little girl who, together with her mother, awaits the annual return of the father and husband of the family, a migrant construction worker whose job takes him far from home, and permits only a brief reunion at (Chinese) New Year's. Startled at first, when her father appears as a strange man, with an unfamiliar and prickly beard, Maomao is gradually won over, enjoying the holiday observances with both her parents, and building a bond of love and trust with the man who, in a few short days, will have to leave again...

There were moments, reading A New Year's Reunion on my train-ride this morning, that I found myself very close to tears. In particular, the scene in which Maomao, bidding her father farewell, offers him her lucky fortune coin, and he becomes very quiet, had a sharp poignancy that was very moving. The brief afterword, in which the author mentions that there are 100 million migrant workers in China - 100 million! - really drives home the fact that, for many families in our world, just being together is a precious (and rare) blessing. The artwork, with its vibrant colors and folk-motif composition, is intensely appealing, by turns adorable - I love Maomao's little white cat! - and sad. It's easy to see why this was chosen as a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2011!

All in all, this was an outstanding picture-book - one with a strong story and gorgeous artwork! I'm glad that it was chosen as one of our May selections, over in The International Children's Book Club to which I belong, where we are trying to read kids' books from around the world. If this is a sample of the children's books being published in China, then we need more to be translated!

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl, Maomao, is excited for the Chinese New Year because for those few days her Papa returns home from working far away. Maomao experiences a whirlwind of emotions. She is a little bit frightened because her Papa looks like a stranger at first. She is content sleeping between her parents at night while the firecrackers can be heard from outside. She is excited to find the fortune coin! And she is upset after a day out in the snow. Throughout all those different events and emotions, Maomao can be seen bonding with her Papa and it is evident that those moments are sacred and special. This is a very beautiful story that shows the warm bond between father and daughter.

The author includes a note at the end that acknowledges this family has fiction but shares that millions of families in China rely on migrant workers. It is heartbreaking to think that so many children spend so little time with a migrant working parent but on the other hand it is very admirable. The illustrations are bright, soft, and capture the mood of the story very well. I also appreciate that the characters do not look stereotypical which is an important aspect of quality multicultural literature.

[Eve Huang]

opening for this book: let student share their experience in Christmas Day, what they like to do during the holiday, how big families they have. Beside Christmas, any other holidays they like to celebrate with their family members. Then, I would like to ask them if they know something about Chinese New Year, and introduce them the sheep year of 2015.

Opening moves: making students to rethink about the background knowledge, that about the American holidays, like Christmas Day. Raising some questions in students’ minds, what is Chinese New Year, how Chinese people celebrate the great holiday? Letting them to make a connection between American holiday and Chinese holiday, do Christmas Day and Chinese New year have something in comment? (Family, reunion, celebrates)

This book brings readers a authentic view about how Chinese families celebrate Chinese New year, it talks about haircut, wear new cloths, firecrackers, dragon dance, and lucky coins, these are the real things Chinese people will do during great holiday. Another reason I chose it was the theme of the book: reunion, we can talk a lot around this theme. Other books I had all about the holidays, and they are fiction, so I would like use a nonfiction book to introduce Chinese New Year to them at the very beginning, so students have the concept of Chinese New Year in their minds.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bittersweet little tale, nicely illustrated.

[Jasmine Na · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yu Li-Qiong's story, A New Year's Reunion is about a little girl named Mao-mao and her New Year celebration. Her father is a migrant worker and only comes back once a year for the New Year celebration. Although many students do not celebrate Chinese New Year, this story gives the chance for students to compare holidays they celebrate with their family and talk about the traditions they do with their parents such as activities and foods they eat just like Mao-mao and her parents in the book. The illustrator, Zhu Cheng-Liang follows the storybook with beautiful pictures, showing the celebration of the New Year as the author describes it in the book. There are no stereotypes and the story gives students to have their own perspective of the story to relate to themselves. Overall, the story seems to be catered towards 1st and 2nd graders and is a good celebration book students can learn from.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bittersweet story, and my niece, nephew, and I all appreciated it. I think that the children identified with the little girl in this book, because they don't get to see their father as often as they'd like. They were able to understand what it feels like to miss Dad, see him, and then have to go back to missing him again. I think it was a challenging story for them to hear, but one that stirred their emotions a bit, which is important. I think that it's good for children to learn that books can sometimes educate us, make us laugh, entertain us, and sometimes they can touch the more sensitive and tender places in our hearts.

This story was neat and warm, and it was as vibrant as the beautiful pictures in this book. Every page was filled with emotion. Just lovely and elegant.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some parts of China, parents may work far away and only get to see their children once a year. In this story, a little girl describes how she and her mother get ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the return, for a short time, of her father. New Year's customs are described as well as the girl's relationship with her father. I loved the bright illustrations, and especially how cute the little girl looks. For other books about absentee parents, see Jacqueline Woodson's Coming Home Soon (USA), Beverly Naidoo's Journey to Jo'burg (South Africa), and Rachel Isadora's At the Crossroads (South Africa). Recommended!

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ouch...Lots of emotions packed into this one.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say this was the most engaging book for me as an adult but I can honestly say that it alerted me to something that I did not know. When we hear about Chinese New Year, we usually hear the story of fireworks, Chinese Dragons, big meals, and the envelopes of money that are exchanged. What I never knew though is for how for millions of Chinese families across the country and world, this is the only holiday that father's that work in the factories can come home to see their families. This was definitely a window into a world I did not know, and for that I appreciate it.

[Rosseli Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A New Year's Reunion is a story that many children may find relatable regardless of their cultural background. I enjoyed reading this book because I could relate the story to my past experience because my dad immigrated to the U.S. when I was a child, looking a better job. He would then visit us only once a year during the winter. This is the same situation that many families have to go through because many times parents have to leave their countries and families behind to look for better job opportunities and be able to support their families. Sometimes parents have the opportunity to visit their families at least once a year, as it is the case in this story.

The cultural representation of this story is accurate because it focuses on the celebration of the new year, which is much celebrated in the Chinese culture. It describes the traditional food that is made during the holiday and other customs such as the "dragon dance".
Every illustration in this book includes the color red, which is very significant in the Chinese culture as it represents "happiness". There are also other Chinese symbols that are used as decoration and some Chinese characters. It describes the important tradition of children receiving a red envelope as a gift.

Maomao, the main character in the story, is a sweet and playful girl who is very happy to see her dad for a few days during the new year. She is also very friendly and truly enjoys the new year's celebration. This is the only character in the story that is fully realized.

In overall, this is a great book that can teach children a lot about the Chinese culture and it can also be relatable for many children since many of them have experienced missing a family member or a close friend.

[Brooke Nadzam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Categories/Genres for this class fulfilled by this book: Picture Books

Estimate of age level of interest: Preschool-Grade 3

Estimate of reading level: Grade 2

Brief description:

Maomao’s father comes home from time away working to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family.

Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book:

Picture books use text and illustrations together to tell the story. In A New Year’s Reunion Li-Qiong uses a mixture of two page spreads, one page illustration, and illustration and text to move the story along. She uses the two page spreads in particular to show movement within the story.

Also, Li-Qiong affectively uses color in her book. In particular, the color red is used, being a color of fortune and luck in Chinese culture.

In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?:

This book is relatable to young audiences because of the reactions of the protagonist, Maomao. She is scared of her father after seeing him for the first time in a year. Also, she has a good sulk at one point because she is not willing to compromise her wants. Another positive aspect of this book is the depiction of the characters. The illustrations were respectful and did not fall into the common hole of Asian stereotypes.

Awards if any:

Publishers Weekly Starred 11/14/11
School Library Journal Starred 2/1/12

Links to published reviews from professional sources:

Booklist March 15, 2012 (Online)
Horn Book Magazine March/April, 2012
Kirkus Reviews November 15, 2011
Publishers Weekly November 14, 2011
School Library Journal February 1, 2012

[Lisa Sandidge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about how a little girl and her family celebrate the Chinese New Year. While they are making rice balls, her father puts something in one of the balls and tells her that if she finds it that it will bring her good luck. The little girl of course finds the rice ball that has the hidden object and she puts it in her pocket. As they are going about their day, the little girl notices that she has lost the object. She tells her father what has happen. He gives her a hug and slips another object into her pocket without her realizing. When she takes off her coat later on she finds the object and is overjoyed.
This book was not repetitive and had a closed ending. The plot was complex and the main character was round but flat as well. She goes through many emotions but does not change character throughout the book. The setting took place in China and at the little girls house. The theme of this book is that family will always have your back. Her father saw that she was upset about loosing the object so he helped her and made her feel better. The language in the book is simple and easy for young readers to understand. The overall tone is calm and happy with the exception of when she is upset over the lost object. The story was told from a third person's point of view since readers have insight to the little girls thoughts and also see when the father slips the object into her pocket without her noticing. The interaction between the words and images enhances the story. If it were just words or just images, the story would not be as interesting.

[Diane Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Review #10:

Summary: “A New Year’s Reunion” is a story about a little girl named Mao-Mao who looking forward to the New Year as her father returns home only at this time. The family comes together to participate in all the Chinese New Year traditions such as making rice balls and setting off fireworks.
They have the tradition of hiding a coin in one of the rice balls and whoever finds it will have good luck. But all too soon it is time for her father to go away again. Mao-mao then decides to give the lucky coin to her father with the hope that it will bring him luck until he returns home again next year.

Theme: I believe the theme of this book is family and reunion.

Personal Response: This book captures both the joy of being reunited as well as the sorrow of separation. It teaches every single one of us a lesson of appreciation. We all need to appreciate our family and family time because not all families can be together all the time. Some have to spend some time away from each other so they can make some money to live on. I still wish this story could’ve had a happy ending.

Recommendation: I would highly recommend this book for teachers and students. Teachers can use this book as a read-aloud book to inform their students of some of the customs that go with Chinese New Years. Therefore, students will be able to learn a lot about the Chinese culture and one of its special holidays. Teachers can also use this story is to reach out to students who live far away from their parent(s) or their loved ones.

[Grace Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of a migrant worker and his family traditions celebrating Chinese New Year's. A young Chinese girl wakes up the day before Chinese New Year's waiting outside her door for her father to arrive from working hundreds of miles away all year long. He only returns to his family from working once a year, to celebrate the holiday. As a family they partake in Chinese traditions such as making sticky rice balls. Inside one of the sticky rice bowls is a gold coin. Whoever finds the gold coin when eating the sticky rice balls will have good luck all year. The girl and her father end up fixing up the house all day and end watching the dragon parade go down their street. I enjoyed this book because of my little brother adopted from China. I like to learn about his culture and the celebrations they partake in for Chinese New's Year. At the end of the story, the girl's father must go back to work until the next Chinese New Year's. After losing the coin and finding it again, the girl was very distressed. She decides to give the coin to her father to keep all year long and give him the good luck. This was such a touching way to end the story and really demonstrated the bond this little girl had with her father. I thought this book was very well written and interesting to learn more about the Chinese culture.

[Topanga · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is about how a little girl and her family celebrate the Chinese New Year. While they are making rice balls, her father puts something in one of the balls and tells her that if she finds it that it will bring her good luck. She ends up finding it and puts it in her pocket. Later in the book she looses it and tells her father when he goes to give her a hug he slips another one into her pocket. When she checks and finds it she is extremely happy and tells her father that she was sure it wasn't there.

This plot is complex but has a closed ending with the girl finding what she lost. There are no repetitive patterns in this book. The main character is is round but flat. She goes through many emotions but does not change character throughout the book. The theme of this book is that family will always have your back. Her father saw that she was upset about loosing something so he helped her and made her feel better. The books language is simple and easy to understand. The tone is calm except for when she is crying that she lost it. The setting is in Chin in the little girls house. The book is told from third person point of view since we can see what the little girl is thinking but we can also see the dad but the thing in her pocket without her knowing. The word/image interaction is enhancing interaction since the words just help to illustrate the story.

[Xinwen Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. At the beginning of the story, the book show us somethings about Chinese new year. I come from China, so when I saw these traditional activities in new year I felt very amiable. For example, they put a coin in dumplings. If who eat this coin he will become lucky in the whole year. The activity is so common in Chinese this is a ancient custom. The story also start from here. A little girl had a coin from the dumpling. She was very happy in the Chinese new year with her family. But after the new year she knew her father need left home in order to work. She was extremely sed, but she couldn't let her father stay, so, she give her father the coin and hope he could came beck soon. I like the story, it not only touching but also tell reader some real things in China. These situation often happened in villages. Young people need to support a family. They have to select work in big city, it can let them earn more money. But it is very hard, these young people left their children in villages and they cannot take care of their children, they are really busy in their career, they can go home just once or twice a year, sometimes in Chinese new year is their only chance to go home. this book through vivid colour to describe this story. These pictures have Chinese paining style.

[997997 · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw this book, I felt was really familiar with this book because it mainly shows that the Chinese year. In this story, it discusses that the little girl is looking forward to having a spring festival in China because at this time, she can reunion with her dad. Her dad does not work in his own city, he cannot went to home when he work outside, every spring festival, she always can get gift, like a doll from her dad because her dad was really loved her and does not want to make her feel upset, so he work really hard at outside and earned money to buy present to her. At the end of the story, when her dad prepared to leave, the little girl give her dad a coin, which is she left when she eat dumpling, it means good luck. When her dad leaves her family, I really can understand the feelings. It is hard for people to leave their family and have a long time cannot see them.

In this book, not only shows the Chinese festival, but also spread the different culture. Every pages in this book it is full of the red color, like red lantern, red clothes, red money, etc. All of things are the same with Chinese new year. Though the characters in this book are not so cute or unique, but this book can truly reflect the real life in China. When I study in abroad, and I saw this book that describe the most important festival in my country, I feel really happy and warm.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Year is a particularly happy time for Maomao because her father gets to come home for Chinese New Year. His job is far away, and he can only visit once a year. [A page at the end of the book claims that more than 100 million workers in China work hundreds or thousands of miles away from home, making it difficult to visit very often.] While he is at home, the family spends time together, doing simple things such as forming sticky balls of rice, eating, talking, and getting a haircut. They also enjoy the firecrackers and dragon dance. But happy as she and her mother are, they also know that all too soon, the time for Papa to leave will come, lending a poignancy to the reunion. Maomao decides to give the fortune coin she found inside one of the rice balls to her father as a reminder of home. The gouache illustrations are superb, displaying the shared joy of that small window of time but also hinting at the difficulty of parting. One of my favorite pages shows the little family gathered together with Mama secretly wiping a tear from her eye as she helps her husband pack as Maomao and the family cat look on. This is a vividly told and illustrated example of the universal draw our families have on us, making it all too hard to leave them.

[Sue Winson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favourite children story. I went really quiet every time when I finished the book; So much emotions and so much to think about. 19- month old little-AJ is too young to appreciate the profound emotions and beautiful storyline of this book. An older kid can probably enjoy the book more.

The story covers a timeline of 5 days of Maomao, the narrator of the story, a small girl in China. It started on a day of the Chinese New Year Eve. “Daddy builds big houses in faraway places. He comes home only once each year during Chinese New Year.” There was no complaint or unhappiness in the tone. Just a plain statement of fact: Daddy comes home just once a year.

We read about Maomao’a apprehension of this “stranger”- “I watch him from a distance, not daring to get close”. And we read about how father-daughter rebuilds / re-establishes their relationship in the next few days, how daddy started to “look more like the way he used to be.” We read about the traditions of sticky rice balls making and fortune coin, firecrackers, red envelope, dragon dance. We see pictures of those unspoken, sweet interactions between a daughter and her father.

Full review here: https://storypleasemummy.wordpress.co...

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children will get a sense of how important New Year’s celebrations are in China today in the lovely new book A New Year’s Reunion, by Yu Li-Qiong, illustrated by Zhu Cheng Liang (Candlewick; 40 pp.; $15.99; ages 4 - 8). Maomao and her mother eagerly await for her father to come home. “Papa builds big houses in faraway places, / He comes home only once each year, / during Chinese New Year.” Papa’s time with his family is filled with sweet, tender moments: making sticky rice balls with Maomao and hiding a special good luck coin in the rice balls, snuggling in bed together, watching the dragon dance on Main Street. And yet, readers will feel the mixture of sadness and joy that this small family wrestles with, as Papa prepares to return to his faraway job after just a few days at home. Zhu’s illustrations bring a lovely tenderness to this story, capturing the family’s emotions. The warm tones reinforce the sense of love that this family has, as they celebrate the New Year. Yu provides a closing note that China has over 100 million migrant workers, many separated from their families except during the holiday.

[Barbara Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable tale told by a young child named Mao-Mao about her family's celebration of Chinese New Year. She is all excited because not only is it Chinese New Year, but this is the only time of year that Mao-Mao sees her father, who builds houses far away from home. Daddy brings gifts and is eager to celebrate. He makes sticky rice balls and hides a coin in one of them. Mao-Mao rides her father's shoulders so she can see the Dragon parade. As the days of the celebration progress, dad is busy fixing and repairing the house doing all those things that have been neglected while he has been gone. Mao-Mao is sad because all too soon her father is packing to leave again. Before he leaves, she has a special gift for him.

The illustrations are beautifully done; beautiful reds and graphic shapes keep the dynamic flowing. Text is simple, but so appropriate for the targeted age population of preschool through grade two. Underlying the book is the sad reality that many Chinese families are living in this migrant work situation. Highly recommended book to introduce multicultural themes to young children and as a teaching tool for Chinese New Year.

[Shelby Rini · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about a family where the dad works away from home and on Chinese New year, comes home to see his wife and his little girl. During the time that he is home, the family participates in traditions involving cooking, adventuring, watching parades, and much more. One day the little girl's dad gives her a lucky coin. The next day when she is playing in the snow she loses it and becomes very sad because she wants to remember her dad buy it when he leaves again. Later she finds it and realizes that she doesn't need it to remember her dad... all she needs is love. Later when the dad leaves for work again the little girl gives the dad the coin back for him to hold on to and remember her.

A New Year's Reunion is a great story for young children. It is easy to read and teaches cultural lessons throughout the book as well as a moral lesson. No matter where your loved ones are, you can always remember them by keeping them in your heart... you don't need an object to love someone. Overall, this was a great book and I enjoyed reading it.

[Braeden Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about a little girl named Maomao whose favorite time of year is the New Year. The reason she has a love for this time of year is because it is the one time out of the year that she gets to see her father, who always returns for Chinese New Year. After her father returns, the family is happily making rice balls, one of which has a lucky coin, listening to firecrackers all night, and enjoying the march of a dragon in the streets below. At the end, he tells her that the next time he returns he will bring her a doll; she shakes her head and gives him the lucky coin saying that they can bury it again in rice next time they reunite. I really enjoyed this children's book, it gives a colorful, heart-filled insight to the Chinese culture. It also enlightens the reader to the struggles some migrant worker families face. It must be extremely hard to see your father/husband only once a year. It makes the reader feel a sense of empathy for their family, and at the same time, happiness for the reunion of the family.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maomao’s papa works far away from home and only comes home for the Chinese New Year, January 23. Maomao hardly recognizes her papa when he arrives, but before no time the family is making rice balls, listening to firecrackers, and watching the dragon dance the streets. Although Maomao loves doing everyday things such as cuddling and fixing things around the house, this soon comes to end because her papa has to leave again for work. This is a great text to read on January 23- the Chinese New Year. I have never been in a classroom and there not be at least one Chinese student. Even if their isn’t, this is a great story to read and have the children compare and contrast the way they celebrate New Years to Maomao’s. Both the author Yu Li-Qiong and illustrator Zhu Cheng-Liang are Chinese. I think its safe to say that maybe one of both of them probably experienced something close to what Maomao is experiencing.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a girl whose father works far away and only comes home to visit for the New Year's holiday. Shows traditional New Years activities in China.

Could also be useful for military kids whose parents are deployed.

Similar to Home for Chinese New Year, but from a different perspective.

Also similar to When Father Comes Home for a Korean take that isn't holiday-focused and At the Crossroads for a South African take (that also isn't holiday-focused).

[Michelle Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This narrative is about a young girl, Maomao. Her father works far away and only comes home for Chinese New Years. They celebrate 3 days together and eat traditional meals and see the dragon dance in the street. After the 3 days the father has to leave again. As a teacher I could use this book in many ways. For one I can use this to inform the students of some of the customs that go with Chinese New Years. Also I can help the students understand and practice empathy. Another way I could use this book is to reach out to students who live far away from their parent(s) or another loved one. This book is interesting and well written and has a feeling of authenticity because the author and illustrator are of Chinese decent. The illustrator does an interesting job. They do not put an incredible amount of detail but just enough to understand what the picture is of.

[Danielle Leider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maomao’s father is a working very hard at a faraway job and he only come home once a year, on Chinese New Year. At first, she does not recognize who her father is, but after some time thing begin to return to normal. The family comes together to participate in all the Chinese New Year traditions like making sticky rice and setting off fireworks. Each year they have the tradition of hiding a coin in one of the balls of sticky rice and whoever finds has good luck. Maomao finds and decides to give it to her father for the journey back to work. This book can be used to show children that even if family members are far away there is always a connection when they come back. In addition, it brings in many multicultural ideas and customs. I think it would be a good book where students can get the best of both worlds.

[Kristi Scramlin]

It’s the New Year’s holiday in China Meomeo is excited because this is the only time of year her dad gets to come home. This year is special because he has brought her a lucky coin that he hides in a rice ball. She takes the lucky coin with her everywhere even to go play in the snow with her friends. But when she gets home it seems that her lucky coin feel out of her coat while she was playing and Meomeo gets very upset. Then when she gets ready for bed the lucky coin falls out of her jacket and onto the ground and she can’t believe it and screams for her dad. Then the day comes where her dad must leave again and return to work, so Meomeo decides her dad should have the lucky home to bring him luck until he returns home again next year. This would be a great story to share with students around the holiday season to share how different cultures bring in the new year.

[Tricia Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story of a family’s Chinese New Year celebration. A little girl name, Maomao waits for her father to return with her who works for construction somewhere far for a year. Maomao’s father has annual visits for Chinese New Years, which means a lot to Maomao and her mother. This book provides an interesting yet new story about a family’s celebration. The story sheds different aspects of life on a particular family of migrant workers. This is a great book for children in early elementary.
I enjoyed reading this book because I have read similar articles that ties into the moral of the story. A lot of parents in China are so busy (depending on their job), their children barely get to see them. The only time I can see myself using this book in class is to introduce holidays in other cultures to students who are not aware about it.