This Next New Year

By Janet S. Wong
Illustrated by Yangsook Choi
New York: Frances Foster Books, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2000
Reviewed by Jacqui James
Co-editor, UU Faith Works

This next new year
is about to begin,

Not the regular new year
January 1,

But the lunar new year,
the first day of the new moon.

In Janet Wong’s spare, lyrical verse, a young boy prepares for Chinese New Year with rituals and high hopes. The boy, who is half Korean, describes how he and his friends celebrate the holiday with a modern blend of traditions: the boy's mother makes traditional Korean new year soup; Evelyn, part Hopi and Mexican, loves the money-stuffed red envelopes from her Singaporean neighbor; and Glenn, part French and part German, "calls it Chinese New Year, too, even though he celebrates it at his house by eating Thai food to go." At home, the boy cleans the house, "so it can soak up good luck like an empty sponge," grooms himself, and pledges to be brave and positive. Wong carefully and clearly presents the reasons behind the rituals in a manner understandable to young children.

Yangsook Choi's smooth, brightly colored paintings are filled with firecrackers, dragons, and other cultural symbols, capturing the spirit of celebration in her vibrant palette and energetic pictures.

Children of all backgrounds will connect with the boy's earnest desire to help change the family's luck and realize his own potential.