We had a nice turnout for our Chinese New Year Family
Celebration on March 7. MCPL staff member Rueyfen Harmon led a storytime on the Chinese Zodiac and how it was created.
In this telling (based on the book Cat and Rat by Ed Young), the
Emperor asks the animals to race through the forest and across the river. Each of the horoscope’s 12 years would be
named in the order that the animals returned.
Rueyfen also led the children in a traditional New Year’s Lion Dance,
which is believed to bring good luck and fortune…everyone enjoyed their performance through
the library!
In honor of the Year of the Ram, children created paper lanterns decorated with rams and colorful ribbons, and practiced the art of paper cutting by making cards of Chinese characters. Once finished, they left with fortune cookies and oranges, a “good luck” food for the new year. Look out for more photos-- and a short video of the Lion Dance--on our Flickr pages!
Above, Marcela and her daughter Luz of Rockville show off their paper lantern. Said Marcela, "We loved the Chinese New Year crafts! We have our lantern hanging up in Luz's bedroom."
