‘Lunar New Year around the world’ is a brightly coloured delight. It explains how Lunar New Year is celebrated in different countries around the world in a really accessible way. The text on each page is brief and presented in different sections or boxes. The illustrations are very detailed and there is plenty to look at on each page. There are also a lot of activities mentioned in the book that children could easily do themselves, for example, making a paper lantern or writing a wish on a piece of paper. This book is great to share with any year group or would make a good assembly book.

This picture book provides a beautifully illustrated introduction to Chinese New Year.

The night before the celebrations, Mai-Anne explains that the Lunar New Year is about to arrive and that her family enjoys a special set of traditions. Mai-Anne helps to clean and decorate the house and is excited when her grandmother (Nai Nai) arrives in time for the most important dinner of the year – fish for good luck, noodles for a long life, dumplings for blessings and nian gao for success. After dinner, Mai-Anne and Nai Nai settle down together and Nai Nai recounts the important story of the Great Race. Along with Mai-Anne, the reader learns about the story of the twelve animals who race to cross the river. Then Mai-Anne enjoys a special family Dragon Dance, eats sweet tangerines and wears a special red outfit for luck.

This is a lovely picture book to read at Chinese New Year but also all year round too as a book that celebrates family moments, bonds with grandparents and the joy of special traditions. The illustrations and text are both warm and celebratory in tone. It also features a non-fiction section on the final pages with more information about Chinese New Year and the dragon dance.

This picturebook offers an explanation of the way in which many Muslims see the period of Ramadan from the first sighting of the new moon through the full moon and back, as well as giving insight into the ‘month of mercy.’ This book would be a great addition to any school or library as it would help support adults who are less familiar with the experience of Ramadan to explain it to children. The explanation of Ramadan is explained beautifully and sensitively in this book and the accompanying illustrations enhance the text perfectly, presented with a beautiful texturing effect that adds a ‘real-world’ feel to them.

This picture book about the month of Ramadan and the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is a gentle, light and thought-provoking story of a special time of year. The story begins at bedtime with the rising of the crescent moon and the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Told through the eyes of a young girl, it embraces family and school life as well as – in her Grandma’s words – being ‘thankful for beautiful things’. This book will be of interest to primary school class teachers and leaders – it would work well as a class story, a shared book, an individual library book or for use in assemblies. It is a beautifully illustrated story to accompany the month of Ramadan and bring life to R.E. teaching. Perfect for primary school classes including those with many, few or no Muslim pupils – the story of Ramadan unfolds telling non-Muslim pupils about the delights and significance of Ramadan from a child’s perspective. At the back of the book is an Author’s Note explaining the origins of Ramadan with clarity and simplicity as well as a comprehensive Glossary of terms.

This is the Christian story of Easter as told through the eyes of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem and watched the events of the Easter story unfold. The text is accompanied by beautiful illustrations and would be suitable to use with the whole primary age range as they explore the meaning behind the Christian festival.