Ying Chang Compestine’s The Chinese New Year Helper opens with a lush picture of a community preparing for Chinese Lunar New Year, with festive red lanterns draped across the road, people hanging up auspicious signs, people sweeping the street, and a smiling person bicycling by.
Jia, a little girl whose family own a large Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, catches on to the celebratory spirit. She approaches her father, who is cooking in the restaurant, to offer her help. He hands her a snack bun and declines her help.
She approaches others in her family with the offer of her help, but in the busyness, she is turned down for various reasons. Jia is starting to feel like she’s underfoot.
Family and friends of various races and ethnicities and ages gather for a celebratory meal. (The illustrated table with a Chinese feast and happy people around is a sight to behold.)
Suddenly, the lion dance commences. Various dancers holding a giant lion’s head and its body prance into the venue. A woman holds a stick with a cabbage on the end to entice the lion. During the lion dance, Jia is suddenly and dramatically included. She becomes a star.
The Chinese New Year Helper shares a message of inclusion, fortune, and luck, human warmth, and Han Chinese culture. The text and the illustrations—in the celebratory colors of red and yellow-gold—convey hope for the new year and a sense of appreciation for the past one. At the center is a well-known Chinese sense of tenderness towards children. Ginnie Hsu’s visuals show engaging compositions and a practiced artful hand.
In the Author’s Note, Compestine describes watching a lion dance in S.F. that was performed by students at a local martial arts school. The author writes: “I was stunned by the agility and coordination of the dancers. I couldn’t help but imagine how much I would have loved to partake in the dance as a little girl.” She was later inspired by a martial arts student who inspired the character of “jia” (which means “family” or “home” in Chinese).
Shalin Hai-Jew has worked in higher education for many years. She has edited dozens of nonfiction educational books and authored a dozen with a number of publishers.
