The Dragon New Year: A Chinese Legend (Chinese Legends Trilogy)

Every spring, the Chinese New Year is heralded by noise and sound: a clash of cymbals, the splash of colorful fireworks across the sky, shouts and whistles and bright lights. Yet how did these traditions begin? A young girl, frightened into sleeplessness by the celebrations outside her bedroom window, takes comfort in her grandmother's wise, soothing words as she tells a tale of the Dragon New Year.

Children will be fascinated by this mythic story, which weaves together a monstrous sea dragon, a mother's sorrow, and a powerful Buddha. Illustrator Zhong-Yang Huang's lavish paintings capture the imagery of the grandmother's words. Colorful, evocative, and haunting, they are a perfect accompaniment to this modern-day fable.