Chinese New Year and Dragons Dancing

I recently pulled off of the shelf two great books on dragon dances.

Dragon Dancing by Carole Lexa Schaefer, with illustrations by Pierr Morgan, is a great book to read to preschoolers and kindergarteners, to explore the idea of a dragon dance (without it being too scary). Morgan's whimsical illustrations show a class of students pretending to do a dragon dance, and the dragon ventures through forests, marshes, and meadows.

For students in grades 1-4, I recommend The Day the Dragon Danced by Kay Haugaard, with illustrations by Carolyn Reed Barritt. The story is of a young girl and her grandmother, waiting for the Chinese New Year Parade in their community. The girl, known as Sugar, has learned about the celebration in school and is sharing the details with her grandmother. Finally the dragon appears, and Sugar saves the dragon dance by tying her father's loose shoe. (Her father is one of the community members under the dragon.) It is a unique tale of how people of all ages and cultures participate in celebrations.