Celebrate the Lunar New Year -- January 29, 2024

The Lunar New Year changes dates each year to coincide with the Lunar calendar.  This year (2025 = The Year of the Snake), it is celebrated on January 29th.  Check out one of these Lunar New Year of snake themed picture books to celebrate . . . .

The Runaway Wok by Ying Chang Compestine
On Chinese New Year's Eve, a poor man who works for the richest businessman in Beijing sends his son to market to trade their last few eggs for a bag of rice, but instead he brings home an empty--but magic--wok that changes their fortunes forever.

Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin
A Chinese American family prepares for and celebrates the Lunar New Year.

Verdi by Janell Cannon
A young python does not want to grow slow and boring like the older snakes he sees in the tropical jungle where he lives.

Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Ten mice outsmart a hungry snake.

More Books --

Crictor by Tomi Ungerer

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble

I Don't Like Snakes by Nicola Davies

Knot Cannot by Tiffany Stone

Long-Long's New Year by Catherine Gower

Maisy's Chinese New Year by Lucy Cousins

The More the Merrier by David Martin

One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom

Popo's Lucky Chinese New Year by Virginia Loh-Hagan

Snakes on the Job by Kathryn Dennis

Two New Years by Richard Ho

Wally Wants to Hug by Barbara Joosse

1-2-3 Count With Me

This week, I'm sharing some great picture books focusing on numbers and counting for kids . . . .

Let's Count Goats! by Mem Fox
Encourages counting skills with humorous illustrations of goats.

Night Light by Nicholas Blechman
Count the lights and, through die-cut pages, find out which vehicle they belong to.

My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman
Little sister has no problem eating one hare, two snakes, and three ants, but when she gets to ten peas, she throws up quite a mess.

Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Ten mice outsmart a hungry snake.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett
The reader is invited to count the animals that have frightened the monkeys off the pages.


More Counting Picture Books --
1 Zany Zoo by Lori Degman
100 Snowmen by Jen Arena
Can You Count Ten Toes? Count to 10 in 10 Different Languages by Lezlie Evans
Cha-Cha Chimps by Julia Durango
Count on the Subway by Paul Du Bois Jacobs
Counting Crows by Kathi Appelt
Dinosaur Countdown by Nicholas Oldland
Edible Numbers by Jennifer Bass
Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow
Flight 1-2-3 by Maria van Lieshout
Lyle Walks the Dog: A Counting Book by Bernard Waber
Numbers Everywhere by Elliott Kaufman
Old MacDonald in the City by Suzanne Williams
One Family by George Shannon
One Is a Mouse by Jonathan Hunt
One Two That's My Shoe! by Alison Murray
The Right Number of Elephants by Jeff Sheppard
Shout! Shout It Out! by Denise Fleming
Soup for One by Ethan Long
Ten Little Fingers, Two Small Hands by Kristy Dempsey
Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown
Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz
Warthogs in the Kitchen by Pamela Duncan Edwards
When Sheep Sleep by Laura Numeroff
Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss

1, 2, 3, Read to Me: Counting Books for Young Children

One of the more popular requests we get at the Children's Desk is for counting books.  Here are some of my favorites . . .

Let's Count Goats by Mem Fox
Encourages counting skills with humorous illustrations of goats.

Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Ten mice outsmart a hungry snake.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
Pete the cat loves the buttons on his shirt so much that he makes up a song about them, and even as the buttons pop off, one by one, he still finds a reason to sing.

The Right Number of Elephants by Jeff Sheppard
A counting book in which a little girl relies on the help of some eager elephants.

Soup for One by Ethan Long
A little fly who anticipates enjoying a big bowl of hot soup is unexpectedly joined by a sequence of interlopers who help themselves to his lunch one by one until their number reaches ten.

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland
One by one, ten dinosaurs at play become fewer and fewer as various things happen to them.