June Behrens

In my opinion this is a great informational book when a student is learning about Cinco De Mayo. The pictures in the story were real photographs that were taken at a Cinco De Mayo party which is helpful for visualizing the celebration. The writing was very informative for readers who do not know anything about Cinco De Mayo or Mexican American culture as a whole. In the story the narrator kept referring back to "they learned", which eludes that the narrator is not part of the Mexican American culture but is learning about the culture and enjoying what they are learning. This book pushes readers to learn more about the Mexican-American culture and what their celebrations entail. I think this is a good book for readers in 3rd grade to read because it is an informational text where they will learn something but it is also a text that can relate to students their age.… (more)

SUMMARY
This book shares the traditions of the Chinese New Year Celebration. Chinese New Year is a celebration that occur anytime between late January and early February. Red and orange are colors used to express joy. Families get together and celebrate the year. Days of celebration follow with firecrackers and magnificent paper mache dragons of all colors.

REVIEW
I like that this book included a lot of information, but was not overwhelming or an abundance of text. I think that's what makes it a nice fit for this age group. I appreciated that the author kept repeating the phrase 'gung hay fat choy' and that they usually put it in all capital letters to make it stand it. This was a great way to get students to remember that phrase. The pictures of the dragons were also beautiful.… (more)