Does your child (or even you) like Sesame Street or Elmo in particular? I know that Little Red Monster (as he was once called) is not everyone’s favorite, but he is a good messenger for children (even if some of us still remember the hoopla of Tickle Me Elmo). One thing I have always enjoyed about Sesame Street (I am “When Snuffy was Big Birds imaginary fiend” old so I am old friends with the Street of Sesame) is that they teach things at a level most children can understand. And they are good to introduce you to a bigger picture without being overly pushy about it.
In Happy Lunar New Year (Sesame Street) publisher Random House, we are taught about Lunar New Year. The last few books I have read on the subject has called it Lunar New Year and not Chinese New Year, as many different Asian cultures celebrate, not just Chinese. And with this board book (due in November 2023) we learn the traditions Ji-Young (a Korean Muppet-girl) and Lily (a Chinese Muppet-tiger) celebrate, the games they play and of course, the food they eat. The fun part is that they are similar, yet different, too. The one issue I had was I did not see a pronunciation guide, as the new to me word Soellal was introduced, and I was not sure how/if I was pronouncing correctly.
The illustrations are brightly colored and drawn not photographs/real like it was directly taken from the show. This is a good book to add to your child’s collection of worldly books, but also just a fun one to adapt to younger children with asking things like, “What is red?” or “How many eyes do all three have?” Or even, “Which character has a tail?” Perhaps my favorite piece of information was the fact that Lily’s family gives her a red envelope with lucky money and Ji-Young’s envelope is another color.