Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes

by Nina Simonds, The Children's Museum Boston, Leslie Swartz

Filled with delectable recipes, hands-on family activities, and traditional tales to read aloud, this extraordinary collection will inspire families everywhere to re-create the magic of Chinese holidays in their own homes. They can feast on golden New Year's dumplings and tasty moon cakes, build a miniature boat for the Dragon Boat Festival and a kite at Qing Ming, or share the story of the greedy Kitchen God or the valiant warrior Hou Yi.
This stunning compilation from bestselling cookbook author Nina Simonds and Leslie Swartz of the Children's Museum, Boston, is the perfect gift for families that have embraced Chinese holidays for generations--and for those just beginning new traditions.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Food, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Cookbooks

80 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[S10_Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful collections of non-fiction information about various Chinese holidays. The book includes folktales that surround holidays and traditions. After each folktale the author includes factual information about the holiday, recipes, and crafts, so that the reader can do more then just read about the holiday. The reader could chose to experience the holiday even further.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats is a wonderful resource for Chinese legends and lore, craft activities and tempting cuisine. Five Chinese holidays are showcased: Chinese New Year, The Lantern Festival, Qing Ming and the Cold Foods Festival, The Dragon Boat Festival and The Mid-Autumn Festival. Each festival is explained by the teachings that were passed down through the generations, and in fact, these stories make the festivals come alive and provide a reason for the celebration. Just as in every culture, ancient beliefs give credence to natural phenomenon, and it is no different in the Chinese traditions. The stories told about each of the celebrations are concise, entertaining and will hold a child’s interest. Simple crafts and traditional recipes are included for each festival. Resources, websites for further study and a glossary aid the young reader.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combination of tales, activities, and recipes. Covers the major holidays: new years, yuan xiao, qing ming, duan wu, mid autumn festival. Great for reading to and teaching kids.

[Aleah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect book to teach kids about these holidays and traditions! Very nice!

[Y.Poston]

a beautiful and engaging exploration of Chinese Holidays

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of Chinese folktales, activities, and recipes is a great introduction to Chinese culture. Folklore is included for readers to understand ghe mythology woven into annual festivals such as Chinese or Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival, the Cold Foods Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

Watercolor illustrations are used effectively to illustrates the folktales as well as provide instructional info for the activities and recipes. Back matter includes booklists for adults and children, a list of websites recommended for further exploration of Chinese culture, and a guide to Chinese pronunciation.

This is a great resource for general interest or homework and presents many possiblities for cultural programming for families and children. Recommended for grades 3-6.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each holiday in this collection gets a brief introduction, a folktale related to the day, and a few recipes and craft ideas.

To be quite honest, some of the folktales selected for this collection were down right weird/cringe-worthy. Definitely scan them before reading them to little kids. The recipes looked yummy and many of the crafts were related to traditional Chinese decorations, hobbies, or handicrafts. I'd pick this one up for the understanding of the holiday and the recipes more than the folktales.

Notes on content: There's one story where a man and his mother are burned to death. And in another place a man hacks off a piece of his own leg to cook and serve up as dinner. Not exactly bed time story material.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good nonfiction book that explains some Chinese festivals and traditions and foods to children. Includes little folktale snippets, recipes, craft instructions, tiny watercolor drawings, some Chinese characters. If one is just interested in the holidays activities and such, then this book is great. I may refer patrons to it, but probably won't book talk it when I have the others to choose from.

[Gsnaps2000 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is in the children's section because of the activities and tales, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and tried two recipes and liked these. This book gives a story behind the Chinese holidays AND finally I understand the Chinese calendar. The illustrations are very charming while being informative. We enjoyed eating New Year Dumplings and Mooncakes.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Love Meilo So's watercolor illustrations! And, I check this book out from the library every holiday season so that we can use "Chinese New Year" as our own American New Year's celebration. The kids and I make a dragon and parade around the house. We order Chinese food take-out. And we can always get more ideas from this book for things to do depending on how much time we have to celebrate.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats is a wonderful resource. I know author Leslie Schwartz from my time working at the Boston Children's Museum and was lucky enough to work with the East Asian Department (of which Leslie was the head) for several years. I learned a TON from my time there, and this book continues to be a valuable resource for me in my classroom work.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! I will be purchasing it in the near future. It contains the stories that go along with the different festivals as well as recipes and crafts for each festival. I can't wait to try them out!

[Whirl Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource book on Chinese festivals and activities. It tells the story behind each festival and includes a number of great crafts and cooking projects. I wish there were books like this on all countries!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that explains some of the Chinese holidays (including traditional tales)and activities and recipes that you can make related to them. It is a great start, but I always find myself searching other resources for other ideas and stories.

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good background on festivals, fabulous recipes!

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of Chinese culture including holidays, folktales, recipes, and crafts. More of a resource for parents than a book for kids.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good ideas for celebrating Chinese New Year. (Crafts included.)

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resourse for our Chinese unit and celebrating Chinese New Year

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent source for extension activities to use at home, at school, or at the library.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is packed with lots of activities and information for the classroom. This is a great book for teaching about Chinese holidays.