Xingling prepares for Chinese (Lunar) New Year with her grandmother, or Po-Po, in this sweet picture-book from author Andrea Wang and illustrator Alina Chau. When Nian, the monster said in Chinese folklore to appear at New Year's time, materializes on her balcony, determined to eat her and the rest of the people of Shanghai, clever Xingling finds a way to feed him and then neutralize him. At least, until the next New Year celebration comes around...

I have encountered the work of Chau before, in her illustrations for Nancy Tupper Ling's Double Happiness, but The Nian Monster is my first book from Wang. It pairs an engaging story of a clever girl who outwits the eponymous monster with adorable artwork, and makes an appealing story for this time of year. I appreciated Wang's afterword here, which gives more information about Nian and various Chinese New Year traditions. The folklore behind this original story - Nian (which means 'year' in Chinese) is indeed said to appear every New Year, and is supposedly frightened away by loud noises, bright lights and the color red - is also explored in Virginia Loh-Hagan's Nian, the Chinese New Year Dragon, which would pair very nicely with this one. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for Chinese New Year stories. ( )

An adorable, humorous and lighthearted take on the folklore and traditions of the Chinese New Year. The colorful cartoon style illustrations blend so well with the narrative and extend the text with details that further explains what is happening. Xingling is clever, resourceful and loves her culture and family- she is a wonderful fierce little girl and an example of a strong female character in a picture book-doubly important because she is a multicultural character proudly displaying her Asian heritage
Author's Note at the end explaining the legend and Chinese New Year traditions. ( )

This is a very good example of myth because the Nian monster is an imaginary character in Chinese history. The book talks about a girl's conversation with the Nian monster which introduces the customs of Chinese spring festival. It can be used to introduce Chinese festival. Students from K-4 will enjoy the story. ( )

It is a good example of legend because it talks about nian monster which comes from Chinese traditional legend.
Xiying are with nian monster to welcome the new year. They had good Chinese New Year traditions, such as having fish.
I love this book, especially it comes to Chinese New Year and it writes about my hometown,Shanghai.
Good for upper elementary and ELL ( )

The central character of The Nian Monster is a clever, quick-witted little girl named Xingling who lives in Shanghai. The Chinese New Year traditions that are meant to keep the Nian Monster away don't work this year and the monster tries to eat Xingling and the town of Shanghai. Each day the monster comes back, Xingling finds a new tricky way to outsmart him, working together with community members to create delicacies that will deter the monster from eating the townspeople. Eventually, Xingling sends the Nian Monster out of China on a giant rocket and claims that she will be ready to defeat him again next year. ( )