Offerings of melons, cakes, and pomegranates and other fruit were presented in honor of the moon. Today, it is a time for friends and families to gather together, to enjoy a big dinner, to eat moon cakes (Yuebing), to sip tea, and to watch the moon with a perfectly round shape symbolizing "familial harmony and unity." There have been many well-known poems, paintings and writings about the clear and bright moon of the Mid-autumn Day, expressing homesickness from travelers or those far away from home. Altars were set up in family courtyards under the moon. The festival is set aside to enjoy the "successful reaping of rice and wheat in a busy agricultural year." Originally, it was an outdoor festival for thanksgiving and pleasure after heavy farming labors. The celebration is on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which is the middle of the autumn season (the autumn season being the seventh, eighth, and ninth lunar months.) In the Gregorian calendar, the festival falls sometime around mid- to late September, or early October. Let's take a look at how this holiday is observed in different countries. To learn more, visit Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in several Southeast and Northeast Asian countries, especially among those of Chinese descent.
Grace Lin grew up in upstate New York and attended the Rhode Island School of Design. Her books for older readers include the Newbery Honor winner Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, When the Sea Turned to Silver, Starry River of the Sky, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, and Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!. And she was awarded a Caldecott Honor for A Big Mooncake for Little Star. She has written and illustrated several picture books about life in a Chinese American family (based on her own!): Dim Sum for Everyone!, Kite Flying, Fortune Cookie Fortunes, and Thanking the Moon. An endnote further describes the festival, emphasizing families coming together, just like the moon returning to its fullness.- Kirkus ReviewsĪbout the Author Grace Lin is an award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator. The inviting nocturnal landscapes are vivid with interesting details, and readers will long to join in this peaceful celebration.- School Library Journal A beautiful, welcome choice for multicultural studies, this also adds diversity to autumnal thanksgiving themes.- Booklist A gentle text and Lin's rounded art style with her signature night-sky swirls lend themselves nicely to the moon symbolism that is so very important to this celebration. The Moon Festival is one of the most important holidays of the year along with the Lunar New Year, so this book makes an excellent companion to Grace Lin's Bringing In the New Year, which features the same family. And she includes an informative author's note with further details on the customs and traditions of the Moon Festival for parents and teachers.
Her story is simple-tailor-made for reading aloud to young children. Grace Lin's luminous and gloriously patterned artwork is perfect for this holiday tale. And everyone sends thanks and a secret wish up to the moon. Each member of the family lends a hand as they prepare a moonlit picnic with mooncakes, pomelos, cups of tea, and colorful lanterns. Book Synopsis This simple, young, and satisfying story follows a Chinese American family as they celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.
0 kommentar(er)
