Book Giveaway: The Night Before Lunar New Year by Natasha Wing

Natasha Wing has written a new picture book, THE NIGHT BEFORE LUNAR NEW YEAR, illustrated by Amy Wummer and was published by Grosset & Dunlap on December 27th. They have agreed to send a copy to the one lucky winner in the US.

Just leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Let me know other things you did to share the good news, so I can put the right amount of tickets in my basket for you. Sharing on Facebook, Twitter or reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. So, thanks for helping Natasha and Amy.

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you everyday, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. If you want to make sure you don’t miss seeing that you won, please click “Notify Me of Follow-Up Comments by Email” box. I will leave a comment in reply if you win the book. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Discover all the celebratory traditions surrounding Lunar New Year in this festive addition to the Night Before series.

It’s the night before Lunar New Year, and a little girl is excited for all of the celebrations to come. She’s prepared dumplings with her mom, bought a new dress in Chinatown, and even helped scare mythical beast Nian away with her cousins and brother. There’s only one problem: she’s a bit nervous about all of the loud noises at the upcoming Lunar New Year Parade. Will she overcome her fears? Find out in the latest installment of the Night Before series, told in the style of Clement C. Moore’s classic tale.

BOOK JOURNEY:

Many times new books in the Night Before series are suggested by fans, parents or teachers. In this case, I had a school from Taiwan ask if I could write The Night Before Chinese New Year. I asked the teacher if she could have her students tell me what they did to celebrate. In 2015, the teacher sent me a packet of student letters that shared their traditions. It took a number of years after that before my publisher gave the thumbs up to the story. I pulled those letters out again and used them to guide some of the new year traditions included in the story.

Since I don’t personally celebrate this new year, my editor suggested a cultural collaborator to check my details and make sure the way the family in the book celebrated was authentic. Lingfeng Ho, along with my two editors and I had a Zoom meeting and brainstormed ideas for the story. Then I wrote it up, sent it to Lingfeng and she checked it for accuracy. One thing I suggested was to call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year to be more universal.

Working with a consultant wasn’t as hard as I was anticipating. I had collaborated on a story before with two other authors that turned out to be super stressful (and never got published), so I have steered away from collaborations ever since. I think because Lingfeng and I weren’t sharing the writing part, that this team situation worked. Her input proved valuable, and the story is better and more authentic because of her. Rightly so, the publisher included her name on the front cover.

In this story I have a sound sensitive child who is worried about all the noises that will be at the parade. As a kid I didn’t like fireworks because of their loud explosions so I’d cover my ears. (I still jump at loud noises like when balloons pop!) The girl in the book comes up with a clever solution for how she could enjoy the parade.

The illustrator, Amy Wummmer, did a fabulous job capturing the excitement and energy of Lunar New Year. One tradition is the gifting of red envelopes containing money to children. It is done to bestow blessings and happiness upon the receiver. In the spirit of this tradition, I will be giving away a signed copy of the book plus a red envelope containing money to purchase a copy of the book to give to a child or friend. Let’s pass on the blessings and share the happiness! And welcome in a new year!

NATASHA’S BIO:

Natasha Wing has published 46 children’s books, with more in the works. Her Night Before titles include The Night Before Kindergarten which has sold more than 2.5 million copies and has regularly been on bestseller lists since its publication in 2001.

Wing’s multicultural book, Jalapeño Bagels, is a favorite among elementary school teachers and students. The story is based on a real bakery in Arcata, California and includes recipes from the bakery. It is a multicultural book with a family that is Jewish and Mexican. Wing was born in the Year of the Metal Rat. She lives in Colorado with her husband, Dan, and cat, Purrsia. She collects squished pennies, and loves hiking and champagne.

LINGFENG HO – Cultural Consultant:

Lingfeng Ho is a Midwesterner living in New York City. She has won many awards for her audiobook work (including Audible’s Best of 2022, AudioFile’s Best of 2022 & 2021).  This is her first children’s book.  You can learn more about her at her linktree.

AMY’S BIO:

AMY WUMMER is an award-winning children’s book illustrator of over fifty titles. She uses pencils, watercolors, and ink―but not the invisible kind.

Some of Amy’s published credits include Two Homes For Tyler, Valentines Are For Saying I Love You, If Jesus Lived Inside My Heart, and Real Heroes Don’t Wear Capes (Social Studies Connects).

She received the Highlights for Children Cover of the Year award in 1998 and 2007, the 2006 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, Highlights for Children Illustrator of the Month award in October 2003 and November 2007, and was a 2002 Gold Medallion Book Award finalist.

Amy Wummer is also a published author. She has illustrated many books in “The Night Before” series and lives in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Natasha, than you for sharing your book and journey with us. I am so happy you keep finding ways to come up with new ideas for this series to entertain us. I love learning new things and traditions. You story is helping to bring people together. I am sure children will enjoy your book, Amy did a wonderful job creating the illustrations to help tell your story. Good luck with the book.

Talk soon,

Kathy