Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats Review

Virginia Caldwell
Book Review Module 2
TWU assignment
LS 5603 - 20

Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats


Bibliographic Data:
Simonds, Nina and Leslie Swartz. 2002. Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats. Ill. By Meilo So. New York: Gulliver Books. ISBN 0152019839


Plot Summary:

Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats is a collection of Chinese holiday stories, activities, recipes, and craft ideas. The book celebrates the traditions of Chinese holidays. It is divided by season into four parts: Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival; Qing Ming and the Cold Foods Festival; The Dragon Boat Festival; and The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.


Analysis:

Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats is a holiday masterpiece. This book has something wonderful to offer people of all ages. The authors did an excellent job of researching traditional Chinese holidays and choosing simple, yet fun and educational activities.

The traditions are explained in an interesting and understandable way. This is a very effective technique before a folktale is told; the explanation draws the reader a map to reference while reading.

In addition, the activities and recipes are positioned in the best possible order, along with the stories, which makes the book flow fantastically. For instance, the Lunar New Year is introduced before a story about the holiday, “The Story of the Kitchen God.” The story is followed by an activity to make New Year Prints, and then another to create Good Luck characters. Then, the tradition of feasting for this occasion is explained in a one-page narrative before a simple recipe is presented.

The activities and projects are clearly outlined, first with an introduction, then a material or ingredient list. Finally, the explanation of the activity or recipe steps are very detailed, yet simple to attempt.

In addition, the descriptions of each festival, and all of the special items involved are virtually poetic, and really make the reader envision exactly what they look, and sometimes even feel like. For example, the description of the Dragon from the Lion Dance Parade:

“The dragon also appears in some cities, in a parade almost most spectacular
than the lion’s. The dragon, whose body is most often made of brilliantly
colored satiny cloth, may be as long as forty feet.” (Simonds and Swartz, 2002)

The illustrations are invaluable to the book. They compliment each story, activity, or recipe with interesting, and when appropriate step-by-step illustrations to help the reader complete the actions.

A Chinese flavor is seen throughout the book’s illustration. These watercolor paintings really give the book an authentic Chinese feel, which adds magic to Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats. The art in “The Story of the Kitchen God” captures the personality of the God extremely well. On a recipe page, the illustrator had the awesome idea to place images of some Chinese vegetables, which westerners might not recognize on the page. This technique really helps the reader to get a good idea of what will go into the food. A very beautiful, and visually in motion illustration appears on the title page of The Dragon Boat Festival. The illustration is vividly colored and portrays a delightful sense of whimsy.


Review Excerpts:

Booklist 10/15/2002
“Each section explains the holiday, tells stories related to it, and offers at least one activity and one recipe. Attractively designed, the pages include plenty of white space, creating a fine background for So's brilliantly colored, stylized paintings.” -- Carolyn Phelan

Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2002
“No library should be without this well-designed, beautiful, and informative resource.”
Copyright 2003, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The above reviews are from Book Index with Reviews. 2007 EBSCO Publishing, Powered by The Title Source TM (Accessed through http://online.twu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_142_1 on September 22, 2007).


Connections:

Some books with similar themes:
The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture: Good Luck Life by Rosemary Gong; Five-Fold Happiness: Chinese Concepts of Luck, Prosperity, Longevity, Happiness, and Wealth by Vivien Sung; Around the World Celebrate! The Best Feasts and Festivals from Many Lands (Kids Around the World) by Lydia Jones; The Family Treasury of Jewish Holidays by Malka Drucker; and Lights of Winter: Winter Celebrations Around the World by Heather Conrad.


Activities:
The book itself provides many activities, such as making kites, simple recipes, and puppets. Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats would be suitable to center a classroom unit around, along with supplementary materials. The book could also be used in a unit about many culture’s holiday traditions.