Home for Chinese New Year: A Story Told in English and Chinese

Same way we love Matt de la Pena’s Carmela Full of Wishes and Last Stop on Market Street—the story is cultural and social context specific, realistic, and yet the simple happiness and love it sheds a light on is so universal and relatable for readers from any cultural background.The Chinese version is excellent although some of the subtleties seem to be slightly lost in the English version—specifically when the father realized he lost his apple/water bottle/scarf and immediately reached for his pocket nervously to make sure the gift for his son was not also lost. I can see how readers of the English version could be left wondering what happened to the apple/water bottle/scarf, but that’s not really the point of the story. However if your style of reading books to children involves adding your own narrative and interpretation, then this shouldn’t be a problem at all.A fresh take on Chinese new year, and more importantly a great read for parents looking to introduce diversity organically to children and broaden their world view.

I like the illustrations a lot but feel there’s a sadness to the story, so it’s a bit of a bummer book. I’m glad someone’s telling the story of the millions of migrant workers that go back home to the village ONLY once a year to see their children (sooo sad). I feel like I need to explain a whole lot about mainland Chinese society to my little one after reading this to him- it’s heavy. Not a fun ‘Baby Happy, Baby sad’ type book! FYI it’s got simplified characters, obviously from mainland China, and no pinyin.. only characters and English

I like the concept of this story but it does fall short in some areas. First, the father keeps losing items on the way home but the meaning behind this detail is never explained. Second, the father gifts his son a watch. In general I believe it is considered a bad omen in the Chinese culture to gift watches. I was surprised the author chose a watch as the gift. Otherwise the illustrations are beautiful.

This is a wonderful book written in both Chinese and English explaining a father’s journey home to visit his family from the city where he works. It’s shows the hardships and separation so many Chinese families endure to make a living and to honor ancestral traditions. Children will enjoy the illustration. Parents will enjoy the storyline too. There is so much love and gratitude expressed between father and son that is not explicitly stated but scene in ever step he takes to journey home.

So many little details in the book that we discover with each read

This is one of our family's favorite Lunar New Year book. A Chinese child is waiting for his father to come back home after working out of town for the whole year. Very special, heartwarming story that brought tears to our eyes and made us more grateful for our time with family.

Ordered this to read in the library during CNY. Enjoyable reading.

I am one of the FORTUNATE teachers that has “The United Nations” in my room. I make sure all races and cultures are covered for each of my students. They are in middle school, but they appreciate seeing all of the books that I have purchased on display.

Lovely story

A story about Chinese New Year reunion and the special relationship about a father and his son. Very emotional story for children. I also bought Jade's Chinese New Year which has another interesting painting of Chinese New Year.