Let’s Play with Lanterns is a story set in a snowy village in Northern China during the Spring Festival. A girl finally receives a long-awaited paper lantern and takes it to play with her friends. All is fun, and we’re suddenly brought to the last day of the Spring Festival, which comes with a final big celebration; we see the village filled with fireworks, the smell of firecrackers, and more lanterns. The children have their last play date with their lanterns before they burn them as the final part of the ritual. How fast the Chinese New Year flashes by – just like the lantern fires!

Yage WANG (writer) was born in Shaanxi, a central and historical province of China, where the custom of playing with lanterns was once a popular Chinese New Year tradition. A doctor of classical Chinese literature, she teaches at the University of Tibet and also writes for children. Playing with Lanterns is her first picture book.

Chengliang ZHU (illustrator) is a member of the China Artists Association. The "Old House" series of books he planned and edited were nominated for the National Book Award. In addition, he likes to watch motion pictures, and this work also uses the composition structure borrowed from movie shots to make the plot unfold with a sense of motion and speed. At the invitation of Hans Christian Andersen Award-winning artist Kouya Anno, he worked with world picture book writers such as Ari Carr and Raymond Boulig to create All in a Day.

Publishing Time: Apr 2020

Dimension: 40 pages, 241×241mm

Age Group: 3+

Rights Sold: English (worldwide), Korean, French, Brazil