Lunar New Year is a wonderful celebration of family and good fortune in the coming year. 2025 marks the Year of the Snake with festivities beginning on 29th January culminating with the Lantern Festival on 12th February.

Below is a selection of books to celebrate the Lunar New Year and introduce young people to this exciting festival.

Lunar New Year by Natasha Kim, illustrated by Jingting Wang

Lunar New Year captures the magic of the celebration by exploring how Ling and her family enjoy the biggest Chinese festival of the year. The new year festival lasts for 15 days full of preparation, celebration and symbolism. Join Ling, her sister Mei and granny Po Po as they clean the house from top to bottom, pick fresh flowers from the garden, visit friends and family, and carry red lanterns through their neighbourhood.

Ling invites the reader into her home and family, allowing the reader to experience this special celebration first-hand through an authentic narrative non-fiction story. A fun 16-page 'factivity' section follows the story and delves into more detail about how the festival is celebrated in China and beyond. Enriching activities are also included, such as guess the riddle, make your own red envelope and a recipe to make delicious Lunar New Year 'pot sticker' dumplings.

Good Night, Zodiac Animals by Jiemei Li

A child’s first introduction to the lunar year and its twelve zodiac animals springs to life with striking, colorful art and a pictogram on each spread.

With the dawn of a new lunar year, one of twelve animals in the zodiac will rise and shine and distinguish the year with its unique personality. And when that year is over, the creature will lie down, close its eyes, and dream its dreams until its turn comes around again.

With gorgeous bold, graphic imagery and a touch of humor, Jiemei Lin offers a dreamscape of sweet rhymes and sleepy creatures. From the tiny mouse to the mighty tiger, each is labeled with its own pictogram, and more information about the lunar year and the zodiac may be found in a note at the end.

I Love Chinese New Year by Eva Wong Nava, illustrated by Xin Li

Twelve animals, one for each year, each one with their own special powers. It all started with a race to cross the most heavenly of rivers.

Chinese New Year is right around the corner and Mai-Anne is so excited! They decorate their house and plan their traditional meal filled with fish, noodles, dumplings and chicken.

But Mai-Anne can’t wait until after dinner, when Nai Nai will tell the story of how Chinese New Year began with the Great Race …

Lunar New Year by Roger Priddy

Children can celebrate and learn about Lunar New Year with this title in the Bright Baby Touch and Feel series.

With a mixture of interesting photographs and charming illustrations, this book is a first introduction to the Lunar New Year festival. Babies will love to explore the touch and feel tactiles on every spread as they turn the pages of this bright and vibrant book.

Each page features a word and image associated with Lunar New Year, making this the perfect gift for any young child celebrating with their family.

Lunar New Year: A Celebration of Family and Fun by Mary Man-Kong, illustrated by Michelle Jing Chan

Celebrate the Lunar New Year and learn about all of its traditions with this Big Golden Book!

Every year, millions of Asian families come together to celebrate the first new moon in the sky. Now preschoolers can learn about the zodiac animals, the delicious food, the exciting parades, and all the fun traditions.

Filled with colorful illustrations and simple, yet informative text, this Big Golden Book is perfect for reading again and again to the whole family. Happy Lunar New Year!

The Race for the Chinese Zodiac by Gabrielle Wang, illustrated by Sally Rippin & Regine Abos

An entertaining and educational retelling of a classic Chinese legend.

The Jade Emperor has declared a great race: the first animals to cross the river will win a place in the Chinese Zodiac. Thirteen animals line up along the shore. But there are only twelve places to be won. Who will miss out?

This classic Chinese legend makes an exciting picture book.

Celebrating Chinese New Year by Lacey Benard & Lulu Cheng

A bilingual book in English and Mandarin with simplified characters and Pinyin.

Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in Chinese culture. This bilingual English and Mandarin Chinese book introduces the various traditions that take place. Children will enjoy seeing different family members preparing for and celebrating the holiday together, and the included family tree is a great visual for teaching the names of different family members. The eye-catching and unique artwork encourages reading and makes it fun to learn new vocabulary!

Also available in Cantonese.

Mulan’s Lunar New Year by Natasha Lim, illustrated by Sophie Li

It’s the Lunar New Year and it happens to be Mulan’s favourite festival! There is a lot to do to prepare for this important celebration and for the first time, Mulan is old enough to help out. But everything Mulan does seems to turn out wrong.

Follow along Mulan in this special Luna New Year story that captures the unique sense of magic, imagination and possibility that surrounds the holiday!