Celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival with a Great Readaloud

Reading together is a favorite way for many Chinese families to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in China — also known as the Moon Festival.

Marking the end of the harvest season and the full moon, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a little like a Chinese Thanksgiving, focused on celebrating family and friends. So snuggle up, do a little moon gazing, and learn more about the Chinese Moon Festival with one of these readalouds.

Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin

A Chinese American family celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival with a moonlight picnic in this picture book introduction.

Lin Yi’s Lantern by Brenda Williams

Little Lin Yi has a big job: He’s in charge of doing all the shopping for his family’s Moon Festival celebration. And if he can bargain well enough, he might also be able to buy the red rabbit lantern he yearns for.

Mooncakes by Loretta Seto

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a little girls listens to her parents tell stories about the brave moon goddess, a magical tree that can never be cut down, and the Jade Rabbit who lives on the moon.

The Moon Lady by Amy Tan

I love that this readaloud (a chapter from the novel The Joy Luck Club) is as engaging for teens as for preschoolers. Nai-Nai tells her three granddaughters the story of the Moon Lady and how she grants secret wishes when she’s asked.

A Full Moon Is Rising by Marilyn Singer

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of several festivals that celebrate the moon, and Singer’s book is a cheerful poetry collection about all the ways that people around the world come together to honor the moon.

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