It is mid-December and in Santa Claus’s workshop everyone is working feverishly to have the presents ready... Every day, children’s letters arrive... Only today, a different red envelope arrived... It contains a carpet-letter, a message written in the art of Chinese calligraphy, a plastic firecracker, and a painted airplane ticket! And as if all that weren’t enough, the envelope is accompanied by a huge yellow dragon!
A truly unique Christmas children’s book that unites East and West!
In China, they don’t celebrate New Year’s like we do... They don’t know who Santa Claus is or our customs... It’s absolutely normal, especially for young children, to have many questions... Who is this chubby man in the red suit who travels everywhere in one night and gives out presents? How does he do it?
It’s also normal for a little Chinese child, even if their parents or school haven’t taught them, to have curiosity, courage, and boldness, and to send a letter to Santa Claus on their own with all their questions!
Through this book, the little boy learns about Santa Claus... All of us, and especially the young readers, learn about New Year’s customs in China. About the lantern festival and the dragon and lion dances!
At the end of the book, there are three spreads with very impressive sketches of Chinese New Year customs! Personally, I was thrilled with the lanterns flying in the sky!
Right after, there are three pages with information about New Year’s customs in China...
And a surprise... With a QR-Reader code, you can write your name in Chinese calligraphy!
Also, I discovered that there is a theatrical adaptation of the book by the author herself, which you can download completely free.
The truth is, I bought this book when my kids were younger... But we didn’t read it, because they couldn’t understand it. Now that they are almost six, we read it together and they show great interest in the dragon and the lanterns!
Of course, the colorful and bright illustrations and the impressive huge yellow dragon help with that!
Santa Claus’s appearance is a bit different from what we’re used to, and that’s something I personally don’t like. Also, some words in the dialogues... I feel they don’t fit in a Christmas fairy tale... On some things, I’m traditional!
The cover has many small elements, which is confusing and tiring. I would have preferred large and impressive sketches of Santa Claus, the dragon, and just the red envelope...
It’s an original, humorous, Christmas children’s book... A good opportunity to talk to our kids about New Year’s customs in another culture... Because, if you think about it, all these things aren’t really that far from us after all...