26th January The Year of the Rabbit (Part 2)

While putting out books today for The Year of the Rabbit Display, I was surprised to see how many series of books for very young children actually have a rabbit as a main character.

See these picture book series:

 

• Miffy by Dick Burn                                                   

• Bear and Hare by Emily Gravatt

• Ruby Red Shoes by Kate Knapp

• Ruby and Max by Rosemary Wells

• Mini Rabbit by John Bond

• Bunnies by Philip Ardagh and Ben Mantle

• Simon by Stephanie Blake

• Davy by Brigitte Weninger and Eve Tharlet

• The Bunny Adventures by Martha Mumford and Laura Hughes            

• Little Nutbrown Hare by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram

• Little Rabbit by Harry Horse

• Little Rabbits by Keith Baker

• Money Bunny by Cinders McLeod

• Feeling Bunny by Trace Maroney

• Lettice by Mandy Stanley

• Betty Bunny by Michael Kaplan and Stephane Jorisch

• Jasper Rabbit by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown

• Ralfy Rabbit by Emily MacKenzie

• Hedgehog and Rabbit by Pablo Albo

• Rabbit and Hedgehog by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

• Ninja Bunny by Jennifer Gray Olson

• Bunny by Claudia Rueda

• Buster Bunny by Peter Bently and Deborah Melmon

• Everybunny by Ellie Sandall

• Fluffy Bunny by P. Crumble and Chris Saunders

• Bunny and Bear by Will Hillenbrand

Then these with amazing toy rabbits:

• Emily Brown's Rabbit, Stanley by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton

• Knuffle Bunny by Mo Williams

And these easy read chapter books:

• Jack by Mac Barnett and Greg Pizzoli

• Rabbit and Robot by Cece Bell

• Fox and Rabbit by Beth Ferry and Gergely Dudas

• Ollie and Bea by Renee Treml

• Press Start! Super Rabbit Boy by Thomas Flintham

• Ballet Bunnies by Swapna Reddy

• Bear and Rabbit by Julian Gough and Jim Field 

• Armadillo and Hare by Jeremy Strong and Rebecca Bagley

• Magic Bunny by Sue Bentley

If you're still reading,  two chapter books to read together:

• The Royal Rabbits by Santa Montefiore, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Judy Hindley 

• Mr and Mrs Bunny by Polly Horvath and Sophie Blackall

I am not going to do another long entry about cat series for the Vietnamese children but there are many. Here are some favourites to get you started:

 

23rd January Lunar New Year

Contrary to what many people outside Asia may think, Lunar New Year is not exclusively a Chinese holiday. True, it follows the Chinese Lunar calendar (in 2023, it falls on January 22, the Year of the Rabbit), but the holiday is celebrated across Asia and each country has its own customs and traditions. Lunar New Year is most often celebrated by eating specific dishes, usually with the entire family, and observing superstitions meant to bring good luck for the coming year. 

I am trying to get into the habit of calling the festival Lunar New Year because in this way it includes all Asians who celebrate as well as the Chinese. While there are similarities, each culture celebrates or emphasises different things. 

In Vietnam, Lunar New Year is also known as Tết, and it's celebrated with family. Traditional Vietnamese sticky rice cake snacks like bánh tét (a log-like, cylinder snack) and bánh chưng (a square cake), play a vital role in the celebrations. The  Just like other countries, Vietnam has its own traditional costume — the áo dài — a silk tunic with slits on either side that's worn over pants by both men and women for the New Year. Children receive red envelopes with money from their older relatives, too.

Vietnamese do not include the rabbit in their cycle and instead have a cat.

In Korea Lunar New Year is called Seollal.  When Seollal comes, families gather together, hold ancestral rites, and enjoy food together! Food is an important part of the holiday and a lot of effort goes into preparing the food for the family.

Koreans dress in traditional costumes (known as hanbok), and children show their respect to elders with deep bows (known as seh bae). As part of the celebration, children also receive money and words of wisdom for the new year.

In Taiwan most people go home to celebrate the new year with their families. It's another country that strongly associates the holiday with food. Nian gao (dumplings) is the most popular dish, closely followed by pineapple. It's considered good luck to not eat all the fish and keep some leftovers from your holiday meals.

Most Taiwanese people spend time with their family and elders in their homes. They also exchange red envelopes during the holiday, and many neighborhoods set off firework displays.

In the Philippines the most traditional celebration of the Lunar New Year is called Media Noche, where Filipino families come together for a midnight feast to celebrate a year of prosperity ahead. The table is usually full of round-shaped fruits — a tradition that originates from China — as the shape represents good fortune.

One of the most unique superstitions of the Lunar New Year in the Philippines is choosing to wear polka dots, as their round shape represents prosperity, money, and good fortune. Fireworks are also often set off to create loud noises to scare away any bad spirits, while lights are turned on and windows and doors are left open. 

Singapore and Malaysia also have celebrations specific to their country to celebrate Lunar New Year.

When we put out a display we will use the title Lunar New Year, but most of the books we already have are about the Chinese New Year. You will notice that these new books that were published in the last year do use the term Lunar New Year

  

Older books:

22nd January Chinese New Year The Year of the Rabbit (Part 1)

 

     

Once upon a time, the city of Beijing was experiencing a pandemic. All the doctors there did not know how to end the pandemic. When the White Rabbit who was busy preparing medicine for immortals in the Moon Palace heard about the pandemic, she felt so worried that she flew to Beijing, as she wanted to help patients. The White Rabbit knocked on the door of an old grandpa's house and tried to offer treatment, but the old grandpa believed that only the human doctor could cure him. In order to convince the old grandpa, the White Rabbit disguised herself as a human being with the clothes that she took from a statue in a nearby temple. After the White Rabbit made several visits to the grandpa's house, the grandpa was touched by her persistence, and finally became willing to receive her treatment. After taking the pills made by the White Rabbit, the old grandpa recovered quickly. As the good news travelled around the city, all the neighbours came to seek the medicine from the White Rabbit. However, unexpectedly, some people became even sicker after taking the pills. What should the White Rabbit do to resolve the crisis brought by the pandemic? Read the story to find out!

This is the blurb for Li Jian's latest zodiac story and I am still waiting for the library copy to arrive. It sounds very pertinent to the times we have experienced. It makes the rabbit out to be a very special 'person' who is kind, caring, persevering, understating just like the rabbit's qualities that are revered in the zodiac and birth sign.

'According to Chinese astrology, Rabbits are predicted to be gentle, quiet, elegant, and alert as well as quick, skillful, kind, patient, and very responsible, sometimes reluctant to reveal their minds to others and having a tendency to escape reality, but always faithful to those around them.'

There is another book in the library about the Year of the Rabbit. Rabbit's Year (2011)  and Rabbit and His Zodiac Friends (2015) by Melissa Keil & Jedda Robaard. This is the same story in both books. It was reissued with a new cover.

A story about finding your place, with the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.  
Little Rabbit is sad. All he wants is a friend, but he is too shy to approach the other animals. Instead, Rabbit watches from the sidelines, playing his music alone while the other animals play together. How will rabbit find the courage to overcome his fears? And will the other animals be able to recognise Rabbit's true qualities? 

 I am planning to start the year off with a display of rabbit books, most of which will have nothing to do with Chinese New Year but it gives them a chance to be borrowed. These books which feature a rabbit, however, do have a rabbit in them who does display many of the qualities listed for rabbits in Chinese astrology.

• Rabbit's Gift by George Shannon & Laura Dronzek

A fable from China. On a snowy day, there's nothing warmer than a meal with friends! Snow is coming, coming soon, so Rabbit needs to find food fast. Just in time, a turnip turns up, and a second one, too. Who in the woods wouldn't want to tuck away an extra turnip for the long winter? Not Rabbit. He chooses a different path - and starts a wave of generosity that spreads among all his forest friends. 

• Rabbit's Pancake Picnic by Tegan Evans & Paula Bowles

A sweet and funny picture book about friendship. It's finally the day of Rabbit's pancake picnic! She's going to make the pancakes all by herself . Her friends try to help.

•  Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow & Maurice Sendak

Little Girl really needs to find a birthday present for her mother in her favourite colour. But with so many things to choose from, she's going to need some help from Rabbit . 

• Marshmallow by Clare Turlay Newberry

Oliver is a tabby cat who is always the center of attention.  
Marshmallow is a baby rabbit who moves into Oliver's home.  
At first Oliver does not welcome Marshmallow, but the little bunny's charms are impossible to resist. This is the true story of how Oliver and Marshmallow become friends. 

• Moon Rabbit  by Natalie Russell

One night Little Rabbit meets Brown Rabbit in the park, and he's just the friend she's been wishing for. He likes to play music and she likes to tell stories: together they make the perfect team.

• Lion vs Rabbit  by Alex Latimer

Lion bullies all the other animals until finally they can't take it anymore. They post an ad, asking for help. One animal after another tries and fails to defeat Lion. Can no one stop him? Finally, a rabbit arrives. No one thinks that such a small animal will be brave enough or strong enough to defeat Lion. But this rabbit might just be smart enough! 

• Grab That Rabbit 
 by Polly Faber & Briony May Smith

Hodge, an adorable bunny, is minding his own business... well, he's stealing some carrots from Mrs Sprat's garden, actually... when he ends up stuck in the hedge. Mrs Sprat advances, wanting to get rid of the pesky bunny, and a buzzard overheard spies a tasty rabbit dinner, too. Can Hodge escape from bird of prey and angry gardener in time to take the carrots home? 

• The Snow Rabbit The Snow by Camille Roche

Two sisters look longingly through their window at the snowy sky. One goes out and sculpts a little rabbit, but when she brings it back inside to her wheelchair-bound sister, it begins to melt. So they take it outside and into the forest where enchanted things begin to happen.

• Those Pesky Rabbits  by Ciara Flood

All Mr Bear wants is to be left alone, but his rabbit neighbours just don't get it! They keep on asking annoying things like can they borrow honey, or does he want to swap books! When grumpy refusals don't work, he decides to scare away those pesky rabbits. Can kindness make Mr Bear see it's time for a change? 

• The Rhyming Rabbit by Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks

The Rhyming Rabbit loves to make up entertaining poems, inspired by everything he sees, but the other rabbits don't appreciate his talent for rhyme. Sad and lonely, the Rhyming Rabbit sets off one starry night all on his own - will he ever find someone to share his poems with?  

•  Rabbit Races Ahead  by Lydia Monks

It's Sports Day at Twit Twoo School and all of the children are very excited. But no one is more excited than Rabbit. She's decided that she is going to win every race, and has been practising very hard. But as Rabbit wins medal after medal, she seems to be losing friend after friend. Perhaps they are getting tired of her boasting. And now there is just one big race to go. Might there still be time for her to learn that being kind can feel every bit as good as winning?

• Little Rabbit's Big Surprise  by Swapna Haddow & Alison Friend

Little Rabbit is bored. Her brothers and sisters are busy with chores and her friends are out collecting worms. Her grandfather, Big Rabbit, offers to make her his assistant for the day - he's got lots of work she can help him with. Little Rabbit laughs; her grandfather doesn't have a job - he spends all day with his friends. "Why don't you come with me and see?" replies Big Rabbit.

This last book is a short illustrated chapter book, ideal for serialising over the week. Little Rabbit and her Grandfather epitomise all the good deeds of the Chinese Rabbit!

It is the Year of the Cat in the Vietnamese New Year Zodiac. It takes the place of the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac, but has all the same traits that are attributed to the rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac.