“Other children’s books have told this tale, but Wang and Rippin’s version is especially attractive”

“At school, 12-year-old Mimi Lu is better known as Smelly-Loo because her parents forced her to drink all sorts of smelly brews concocted by her herbalist doctor father that lingered on her clothes, pigtails, skin, and even her breath. You are Chinese. Be proud of it, her immigrant parents remind her, and yet she defiantly insists, “I’m Australian, not Chinese.”

Gifted in art, Mimi receives special lessons from her favorite teacher, Miss O’Dell. But Dr. Lu forbids Mimi from wasting any more time and insists she concentrate on schoolwork. Mimi is devastated, until Miss O’Dell comes up with a compromise plan to work with Mimi during lunch, which also gives Mimi the perfect excuse to stay away from bullying Gemma and her ‘cool’ group.

Miss O’Dell gives Mimi a special set of beautiful Empress Cassia pastels with a mysterious warning, ‘No one is to use the colored pastels but you’. That Saturday, Mimi creates a magical sidewalk scene that invites viewers to experience something unusual and healing. The pastels, Mimi quickly realizes, have otherworldly powers.

As more and more people gather to experience the garden, Mimi’s mother decides that she’ll open a tea and dumpling shop right there on the sidewalk to provide refreshments. Mimi is suddenly famous in the little town, and her mother’s new venture becomes quite the happy, welcoming gathering place. But when mean girl Gemma figures out the power of the pastels, can Mimi stop her before Gemma’s wickedness changes the magic into something dark and dangerous?

In just under a hundred pages, third-generation Australian Chinese author, Gabrielle Wang, melds history and life lessons into an exciting adventure. She deftly inserts difficult events as vast as the Cultural Revolution (Mimi’s mother’s childhood), as personal as degrees of cultural assimilation among different generations of immigrants (Mimi and her parents), and as familiar as opposing sibling dynamics (Mimi’s strict father and his ill younger brother). Wang realistically presents today’s challenges at school without easy fixes, from cliques to culture clashes to burgeoning boy/girl dynamics. And through it all, she’s got just the right balance to tell a really good, lasting story. That’s a feat of welcome magic indeed.”

“This beautiful retelling of the classic Chinese legend is a joy to read.”

“Based on the Chinese legends about the naming of the Zodiac signs and how which animal came to be in the order it is, Gabrielle Wang has written a stunning book, full of life and energy as the animals cross the river in order to be first to get to the other side and so find a place in the zodiac.”

“Gabrielle Wang’s text is beautifully articulated as she uses traditional folktale cadences to tell the story of how each animal approaches the task according to its nature – the tiger leaps, the rabbit jumps on an log, the horse plunges in, and the pig falls asleep in the mud. Sally Rippin and Regine Abos have combined to produce stunning illustrations based on Chinese painting techniques.”

“A glorious folktale with a wonderful ending, The Race for the Chinese Zodiac includes annotations on the Chinese years and their meanings, and is resplendent with stunning illustrations that blend traditional elements with the modern.
This book is a joy and would be fascinating for kids of all backgrounds.”