Amy Wu and the Lantern Festival

An accident involving a beloved lantern has a young girl of Chinese descent hustling for a replacement for Lunar New Year. The whole house is bustling with preparations for the two-week holiday, and Amy Wu adores it all. "The food, the decorations…but most of all, Amy loves the traditions!" Tonight is the Lantern Festival. To observe the first full moon of the new year, her family takes out a special lantern belonging to her father. It may look ordinary--a red oval with gold fringe--but her father explains that it helps him remember Amy's grandmother. But disaster strikes when Amy trips coming out of the attic and smashes the lantern. Despite her father's reassurance, she and her friends take it upon themselves to fix it. They do their best but can't get it quite right. A stricken Amy laments that Lantern Night "won't be the same. It won't be extra special. It won't be tradition." Zhang's enthusiastically told narrative comes to a climax as Dad explains that "sometimes traditions change, and that's okay." Amy, her family, and her friends, who vary in skin tone, are now fully able to appreciate the evening festivities, complete with lanterns, food, and dragon dances. With dynamic shades and composition and perfectly comedic expressions, Chua's illustrations shine. Instructions on creating a lantern complete the story. A sweet holiday venture, laced with important insights into embracing change.(Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.