Learn with your little one how the Chinese culture celebrates the New Year in the alphabet book, D is for Dragon Dance. Each letter of the alphabet is assigned a word that explains some aspect of the Chinese culture during a New Year celebration. Each word selected is also explained in more detail in smaller print below; sometimes, several letters are included in the same explanation; D, F, and E are explained with the sentence, "Dragon dancers and Firecrackers scare away Evil spirits." The pages are eye-catching in their vibrant colors, patterns, details, and action. Your child will learn some new words, such as 'Veneration', 'Xylograph', and 'Zodiac'. The final page also consists of an author's note, 'tips to ensure good fortune in the New Year', an explanation of the Chinese characters seen in the background of every page, and a recipe for "New Year's Dumpling Delight."
There are plenty of learning opportunities in "D is for Dragon Dance." Your little one will likely have a slew of questions about Chinese culture, why they do certain things to celebrate, and why we don't engage in some of the same celebrations - especially the fun ones like making paper cut outs, finding lucky money in red envelopes, lighting firecrackers, and flying kites of every shape and color! It is fun to learn about the different traditions, such as washing and cutting children's hair for New Years, bringing oranges to friends' houses for good luck, and wearing jade to protect oneself from evil spirits.
I read this book with my four-year-old niece, Emily, who said the pictures were "Beautiful!" She noticed that a kitty appeared in every single picture, sometimes doing something silly. She named him "Socrates", just like her cat at home and enjoyed pointing him out. She also thought it was fun to find her animal sign from the Zodiac calendar at the end. As soon as she found out she was the Year of the Rooster, she let out a big, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
--Audra