03/07/2026
As we reflect on our Lunar New Year learning this year, we feel so grateful to the parents who visited to share their families’ cultures, traditions, customs, and foods with us.
Their stories sparked weeks of exploration—through reading, art, singing, dancing, learning to use chopsticks, deep dives into the legend of the Nian monster, hongbao excitement, playing the Korean board game yutnori, practicing sebae (a respectful bow to elders), and ultimately celebrating together with a joyful school-wide parade.
We were especially grateful to learn about the many ways Lunar New Year is celebrated across East and Southeast Asia, and how traditions continue to evolve through global diasporic communities.
For anyone looking to grow their classroom or home reading list, some of the books we enjoyed together included:
📚 Ruby’s Chinese New Year by Vickie Lee — a playful take on the legend of how the zodiac animals were chosen.�
📚 Lunar New Year by Hannah Eliot — introducing traditions like cleaning homes to sweep away bad luck, giving red envelopes (hongbao), lighting fireworks, and sharing symbolic foods like dumplings and noodles.�
📚 A New Year’s Reunion by Yu Li-Qiong — a touching story about a young girl whose father returns home for the holiday.�
📚 The Nian Monster by Andrea Wang — a lively tale about a clever girl who uses Lunar New Year traditions to outsmart a monster in Shanghai.�
📚 A Sweet New Year for Ren by Michelle Sterling — about a young girl helping her family prepare pineapple cakes for the celebration.�
📚 Cleversticks — about a boy who learns to use chopsticks with confidence and creativity.�
📚 Maisy’s Chinese New Year
🎶 Songs included “Sha Ha Mo,” a joyful Chinese children’s song about a little frog jumping!
