12 Days Of Lunar New Year - By Jenna Lettice ( Board Book )

Completely inaccurate of Chinese culture and CNY. 4 red envelopes? 4 is considered a very unlucky number.

The title and description say this is a board book. It is NOT a board book! That’s the thing that I was disappointed about the most. Like the other reviewer mentioned, 4 is very unlucky and absolutely avoided — especially during the new year. Parents would not give their child 4 red envelopes. This does suggest to me that there wasn’t much thought put into this as this is such a primary tradition/superstition. I don’t mind the rest of the book.

This is not a board book and it is not an accurate representation of how Lunar New Year is celebrated In Asian cultures. Save your money to buy a book that actually portrays this holiday with accuracy.

The artwork is cute but the story is certainly not accurate on how lunar is celebrated by any families of Chinese heritage/with roots from China. Btw the costumes from the cover art is completely imaginative… not at all what anyone might choose to wear to celebrate CNY & the styles are wrong. Easy to tell the artist, though talented, did not take a good look at the actual shape of actual costumes. Necklines too wide! Etc. sad.

I was looking for a book for my nephew and niece to help teach them about our culture and traditions during Lunar New Year. I stumbled upon this book and after taking a peek through the pages, I was hugely disappointed. The author is building off her "12 days of" gimmick without regard to our actual culture and traditions. Lunar New Year is celebrated by many different cultures in many different ways. How many more times do we have to say we are not a monolith? The writing and artwork seem to be a bit more Chinese-centric. In which case, here are some quick facts. Chinese New Year is a celebration that lasts for 15 days starting with New Year's Day. Actually, traditions start with preparations (for example, cleaning the house) before New Year's Day and what we call the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. Because Chinese New Year is less about gifts and more about family. And food. Always food. This is just a "cute" book that is rife with inaccuracies and filled with random Chinese symbols (red envelopes, lions, dragons, etc.) that are used without any meaningful context. Please tell me why we would give 4 red envelopes on the 4th day, especially given the number 4 is an unlucky number in our culture?? Please stop exploiting our culture for your cutesy, folksy, white people entertainment. I understand this is a children's book, so it isn't meant to be an in-depth educational experience for them. But even so, in this day and age, it's shocking to see something so tone-deaf. You want to do 12 days of Christmas, Kindergarten, or Kindness? Be my guest. But please do not culturally appropriate our culture for your commercial gain, thanks.