Chinese New Year Colors

PreS-Gr 1–This simple and beautiful color concept book features large monochromatic watercolor paintings of items commonly used to celebrate Chinese New Year. The eye-catching text is limited to the name of the color in English and Chinese (both in characters and pinyin translation). With one color featured on each spread, the effect is quite striking. Due to the predominance of red in New Year celebrations, some items are pictured in nonstandard colors (firecrackers are red, but lucky money envelopes are yellow and the lucky fish symbol is black). Multicolored items are also rendered in a single shade (such as a cerulean lion dance). Back matter gives a few sentences of explanation about each item pictured and its role in holiday celebrations. The simplicity of the design and concept means even the youngest readers will enjoy this one; it’s also a fun and easy vocabulary lesson for older readers who do not already speak Mandarin.