Book Description
for Ten Mice for Tet by Pegi Deitz Shea and Cynthia Weill
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Vivid colors and exquisite embroidery set the stage for a book that combines counting with an introduction to Tet, the Vietnamese New Year celebration. As the numbers ascend from one to ten, mouse characters demonstrate holiday traditions including party planning, feast preparation, gift-giving, and fireworks displays. The concise descriptions on each page (“1 mouse plans a party. / 2 mice go to market. / 3 mice paint and polish.”) are well suited to sharing with young children, while a four-page afterword provides a more detailed account of the holiday and its traditional activities and includes pronunciation help for the Vietnamese words. The jacket flap provides a fascinating explanation of the collaborative process between a children’s book artist and an embroiderer to create the book’s distinctive illustrations. (Ages 4–9)
CCBC Choices 2004 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2004. Used with permission.