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The Year of the Monkey Series: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac (Book 11) Written by Oliver Chin Illustrated by Kenji Ono Immedium      12/15/2015 978-1-59702-118-0 36 pages      Age 4—8 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. “Max is the son of the famous Monkey King and Queen, who have very high expectations. …

Gung Hay Fat Choi! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy Year of the Sheep/Ram/Goat!

So how are you celebrating? Here are some of my favourite children’s books for Chinese New Year:

The Year of … Continue reading ... →

Oliver Chin, illustrated by Jennifer Wood,
The Year of the Snake: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac
Immedium, 2013;

The Year of the Dragon:.Tales from the Chinese Zodiac
Immedium, 2012.

Ages: 5-8

The latest two offerings in Oliver Chin’s series of Tales from the Chinese Zodiac, this year’s The Year of the Snake and last year’s The Year of the Dragon are welcome additions to this imaginative menagerie of endearing characters, whose stories embody the chief characteristics of each animal of the Chinese Zodiac in turn.

These are also tales of friendship and finding a place in the world…

Read the full review

The Year of the Snake slithers in this weekend but have no fear! Ancient Chinese wisdom says a snake in the house is actually a good omen because it means that your family will not starve. The sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, the snake represents wisdom, intelligence and self-control. The snake also represents the ability to strike at will, quickly and powerfully. The Year of Snake promises to be a time of steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for all of us to achieve what we set out to create.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festival in the Chinese calendar and celebrations take place around the world . What better way to get into the spirit by reading some Chinese New Year children’s books! Here are a few books we’ve blogged about that we would definitely recommend:

Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series by Oliver Chin,

The Great Race / The Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Dawn Casey, illustrated by Anne Wilson;

The Day the Dragon Danced by Kay Haugaard, illustrated by Carolyn Reed Barritt

Fang Fang’s Chinese New Year by Sally Rippin

The Race for the Chinese Zodiac by Gabrielle Wang, illustrated by Sally Heinrich

Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat by one of my favorite authors Grace Lin. Be sure to visit Grace’s blog t0 read about her plans for bringing in the New Year with  her daughter Rain Dragon and to get some New Year crafts suggestions.

My Mom Is a Dragon and My Dad is a Boar and Hiss! Pop! Boom! by Tricia Morissey

Happy, Happy Chinese New Year! written and illustrated by Demi. Read our interview with Demi here and see our gallery of her stunning illustration work here.

And here’s a special kidlit New Year celebration  for those of you who live in San Jose, CA, USA.  Children’s author Oliver Chin will be reading from his new book The Year of the Snake: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac, on Feb. 19th at the Joyce Ellington Branch library. Details here.

Oliver Chin,
The Year of the Rabbit
Immedium, 2011.

Ages 4-8

Year 4071 of the Chinese lunar calendar was ushered in with the full moon on February 19 this year, and with it came the sixth in Immedium’s series of Tales from the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Rabbit.

People born in the year of the rabbit are said to be amiable and gentle, nimble and resourceful. They are known for having fine taste, good luck, and a forgiving nature. Such are the qualities embodied in Rosie, a long-eared (perhaps a little too long-eared) rabbit who befriends a human boy, Jai, when she is captured while sampling from his grandmother’s garden. Western traditions regarding rabbits (the Easter Bunny, lucky rabbit’s feet and being pulled from a hat) are addressed when the other animals from the farm (and from the Chinese zodiac) come by to meet Rosie. When Rosie’s parents come at night to break her out of the cage and bring her back to the burrow an anxious Jai follows with his dog and unwittingly alerts a sleeping tiger. Rosie hears his cry and comes to his rescue. All are ultimately saved when the tiger mistakes the horns of a sleeping dragon for Rosie’s ears and grasps them. In a moment of cultural confusion (Chinese dragons don’t breathe fire) the angered dragon chases the tiger away, shooting flames at his backside.

This bright and playful story makes the ancient tradition of the Chinese zodiac accessible to children everywhere. Justin Roth’s illustrations are in keeping with earlier titles in the series and reflect his background as an animator: the cartoon-like characters have exaggeratedly expressive faces that children will respond to. Kids will also have fun spotting all of the animals from the Chinese zodiac hiding in the pages of the book.

Comics expert and award-winning author Oliver Chin, who also wrote the first five Tales from the Chinese Zodiac books (illustrated by Jeremiah Alcorn and Justin Roth) as well as Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought, Baltazar and the Flying Pirates, and the graphic novel 9 of 1: A Window to the World, is, again, clearly in his element. The Year of the Rabbit is a timely way for the youngest readers to get acquainted with this aspect of Chinese tradition.

Abigail Sawyer
March 2011

The Year of the Rabbit: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac by Oliver Chin

Reviewed by: Renny Fong

About the author:

Oliver Chin has written the Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series, Welcome to Monster Isle, Julie Black Belt, Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought, The Adventures of WonderBaby, and other books. His family lives in San Francisco, CA.

About the illustrator:

Justin Roth illustrated The Year of the Tiger and has contributed to animated TV series for Nickelodeon, Disney, and 4Kids Entertainment. Currently animation supervisor at the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi, he lives in New York, NY.

My take on the book:

Move over Bugs Bunny.  2011 brings on the Year of the Rabbit, and Oliver Chin adds another adventurous Tale from the Chinese Zodiac to his collection, The Year of the Rabbit.  This tale introduces Rosie the Rabbit, who is born with super long ears, which brings her both misfortune and fortune.  As luck would have it, a boy named Jai, whose grandmother would rather eat Rosie for dinner after getting caught raiding her garden, saves Rosie.  Later on, it’s Rosie who returns the favor to Jai in this fast-paced animated story.  It definitely has a comic book flavor to it.  As with some of his other tales, a younger audience might get scared of the ferocious tiger and dragon, so a pre-read is definitely suggested.  Chin continues to creatively reveal the virtues of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac through his series.