Free Printable Lunar New Year Activity and Craft

Make a red lantern and have fun coloring little Ren in this free printable for Lunar New Year!

Little Ren looks forward to the preparation for and festivities of Lunar New Year, but she is always too little to help make the delicious pineapple cakes that are her favorite.  She watches family members rolling out the dough and loves the mouth-watering smell. Watching and waiting, when will Ren be old enough?

These Lunar New Year craft and activity sheets were created by Simon & Schuster for A Sweet New Year for Ren, written by Michelle Sterling and illustrated by Dung Ho.  Click here to download the free printable for Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year.

A recipe for pineapple cakes is included in the book.  Watch recipe creator Bonnie Eng make pineapple cakes in this video!

Ghost Pies Inspired by How to Make Friends with a Ghost

We’re resharing these ghost pies we made a few years ago inspired by Rebecca Green’s How to Make Friends with a Ghost.  They were very easy to make.  All you need is:

🌷 A tulip-shaped cookie cutter

🥧 Frozen pie crust

🍎 Apple cider jam (or another fall flavor)

🧁 Glaze (1 cup powdered sugar + 1 tbsp milk + 1 tbsp maple syrup whisked together)

🖌 Wilton’s Foodwriter Edible Color Markers

If you haven’t made hand pies before, check out Hello Wonderful’s recipe for Easy Mini Jam Heart Hand Pies.

Happy baking! 👻🥧🍁

New Christmas Books for 2018

We have one last trio of Christmas books to share.

A Christmas Advent Story adds a special festival touch to counting down the days until Christmas.  Written by Ivy Snow, illustrated by Hannah Tolson and published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

A cozy Christmas tale of teamwork, community and gratitude for fans of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.  Construction Site on Christmas Night was written by Sherri Rinker, illustrated by AG Ford and published by Chronicle Books.

And lastly, a mischievous cat wreaks so much havoc on his family’s Christmas Eve preparations leaving them appalled, aghast and practically Christmas-less.  This one is delightfully funny and those with cats in their lives will relate all too well.  The Cat Who Ate Christmas was written by Lil Chase, illustrated by Thomas Docherty and published by Running Press Kids.

The Christmas Eve Tree

“A forest of Christmas trees stretching over the hills.  That’s where our story begins.”  A little forlorn fir tree, robbed of the chance to grow and thrive as a seedling, is transported with fellow trees to the city to be put for sale.  Not surprisingly, no one gives this little fir tree a second glance.  On the brink of being discarded, the fir tree ends up being adopted by a boy and both their warmth and presence bring the community together in a memorable way.  A few days later, dried and brittle, while the little tree sits and waits to be tossed out with the other Christmas trees, a street sweeper comes along.  His clever deed gives the little fir tree a new life.  Don’t miss this heartwarming and affecting Christmas tale.

The Christmas Eve Tree was written by Delia Huddy, illustrated by Emily Sutton and published by Candlewick Press.

The Broken Ornament

Jack wants this to be the BEST Christmas ever and in his zeal to trim his family’s tree in the grandest way possible, he breaks an ornament.  It’s not just any ornament.  It’s a very special (irreplaceable) family heirloom.  While picking up the pieces of the broken ornament, a quirky magical creature named Tinsel appears.  She deftly grants Jack’s wishes for the best, most over-the-top Christmas ever.  Jack revels in the otherworldly winter wonderland that’s suddenly sprung up in his living room but still lingering is the feeling that he needs to somehow fix his mother’s broken ornament.  Tinsel can’t fix the problem, but she does nudge Jack toward a solution in her magical way.  Tony DiTerlizzi’s art shines in this heartfelt story for the holiday season.

The Broken Ornament was written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.