Brenda Williams (1)

Dispatched to the market to purchase the things his family needs for their annual Moon Festival picnic, young Lin Yi hopes that if he bargains hard enough, he will have enough left over to buy the red rabbit lantern that he longs for. Despite his best efforts however, when it comes time to get the final item on his list - peanuts for Uncle Hui - he realizes that he will not have enough left for what he wants himself. His generous decision to buy the peanuts is rewarded in the end, and he and show more his family enjoy a happy Moon Festival...

Like a number of other picture-books I have read featuring the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival - The Shadow in the Moon: A Tale of the Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncakes spring to mind in this respect - Lin Yi's Lantern: A Moon Festival Tale includes both a story set at the time of the festival and a brief retelling of a folktale associated with that festival. Here the folktale is included at the rear, along with instructions on making a Chinese Lantern and a brief discussion of market life in China. I found author Brenda Williams' tale sweet, if a bit predictable. One never gets the sense that Lin Yi will truly be denied what he wants, so the reward at the end felt less satisfying. That said, I think it will please young children, and the artwork from illustrator Benjamin Lacombe is simply lovely. Recommended to anyone looking for stories about the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, of which there are still far too few. show less

Rhyming text and vibrant illustrations make this the perfect jumping off point for learning about the many creatures that inhabit our oceans. The main text is short enough to capture the attention of even fairly young children as it reads kind of like a story book. Backmatter includes more facts about each of the ocean animals depicted for children who want to know more.

On the day of the Moon festival, Lin Yi is dying to get a rabbit-shaped lantern for the festivities. His mother sends him off to market to get some groceries and tells him if he manages to negotiate with the merchants properly he will have the money he needs to buy one. A cute story, and great illustrations with rich detail showing Lacombe's range. The book ends with a section showing how to make a Japanese lantern and an explanation about the Moon festival. Sweet and probably great for the show more 3 and up crowd. This book is available to English readers. show less

This was an excellent find at the library. The first part of this book is the picture book that takes you around the world to different habitats like the garden, the forest, the mountains, the jungle, etc. telling you about two different animals that live in the habitat. This part easily captures the attention of a young child with the vivid colors and the little rhymes provided about each animal.

The second part of this book gives the reader factual information about each type of habitat as show more well as the two animals in the book that were found there. This part of the book I would think is meant for an older child that has already been captivated by the picture book when younger and now wants to learn more about each animal.

The book ends with a final page that tells about a spider that could be found in each habitat. This last page also tells the reader there is a spider on every page of the book which makes you want to go back and find each spider.

Overall I was happily surprised by this book and want a copy for myself. show less