Chinese New Year

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-These series entries describe the celebrations of Carnival and Chinese New Year around the world. Rather than being arranged geographically or chronologically, with a clear description of what happens when and where, material is presented by topic: history, foods, music, dance, and costumes. Calendars are appended. The text in Carnival, in particular, is very choppy, jumping from one part of the world to another. There is much simplified and also irrelevant information-a sidebar on slavery in Carnival, digression in Chinese New Year on Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism (with the name of the historic Buddha, Sakyamuni, incorrectly spelled as Sukyamuni). The layouts are as fragmented and cluttered as the text. Streamers and dragon tails festoon page tops; confetti and dragon scales decorate sidebars and page numbers. Abundant full-color photographs and illustrations, some poorly chosen, interrupt the text. Suzanne Coil's Mardi Gras! (Macmillan, 1994), Tricia Brown's Chinese New Year (Holt, 1987), and Demi's Happy New Year! (Crown, 1997) give more coherent descriptions of both festivals.-Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA