Clear and Bright: A Ching Ming Festival Story by Teresa Robeson and illustrated by William Low is currently available, but I read via an online reader copy.
This book is a nice book on diversity. It is a fun read, not a WOOW BEST BOOK EVER (or WBBE) but it has a lot of great points. We learn about the Ching Ming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day. We see how a family passes down their traditions to the next generation. As the publisher’s description says, our character Lily’s day is a “day … full of joy and community, but also reverence and remembrance.” It also shows the family history of a great grandfather and his American journey. It is (again publisher’s description) a book of Chinese heritage, cultural tradition, and the ancestral love (of generations).
The illustrations are bold, colorful, filled with details. Yet, it is also calm, soothing, and not overwhelming. And yet, there is an energy to everything. They show Low’s style (as in Yours ‘Til Niagara Falls) that is tone setting and helps push the story forward without compromising the text. The family dynamic is told and shown as family who live far away, cousins seen only once a year all come together for this celebration.
And again, though it is not a WBBE, it is a book that shows a non religious holiday, one that has similarities to other spring festivals and events, plus the family elements. We see another culture and how they are similar to ours, but also allows the reader to see different perspectives.