Book Review: Why We Eat Fried Peanuts

January 6, 2025 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Why We Eat Fried Peanuts by Zed Zha, illustrated by Sian James, tells a sweet story of a woman’s kindness and the family that remembers her.

A child asks her father why they eat fried peanuts for Lunar New Year, and he says that his grandmother always told them to eat peanuts for long life and strength. He goes on to tell the story of his grandmother, whose name is not known, but whose kindness literally saved the life of a baby (who would become the girl’s great uncle).

The story is not really about Lunar New Year, but it uses it as an entry point for telling the story and acknowledging the importance of ancestors in Chinese culture. It would be a good choice to read in the classroom around Lunar New Year or when you are talking about China.

The book includes Mandarin vocabulary, with each phrase shown in the corner of the page in Mandarin characters, transliterated, spelled phonetically and with the definition of the term. This makes it a lot easier to read aloud and to understand the important words being expressed.

At the back of the book you’ll find answers to some questions such as what is Lunar New Year and the Qingming Festival (a time to honor ancestors by sweeping their tombs, which usually happens in April), why are peanuts a special treat and what does an èr hú look and sound like (it’s a two-stringed instrument that features in the story). And there’s a recipe for fried peanuts, too.

I wouldn’t say this should be your only Lunar New Year book (because it really barely touches on the holiday at all despite the subtitle being “A Celebration of Family and Lunar New Year Traditions”) but it is a sweet story and would be a nice addition to a shelf of new year books or to read aloud at home or at school.

About the book: 32 pages, paper over boards. Published 2025 by becker&meyer kids. Suggested retail price $18.99.

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Book Review: Borders

My brother went through a phase where he was obsessed with maps. He loved to look at maps and he would draw maps of places real and imagined. He even drew maps that followed our route when we’d go to visit our grandparents in another state!

I assume there are still kids who go through map phases, and kids with an interest in history and how things got to be the way they are. Both kinds of kids will enjoy the book Borders: Understanding the Lines that Unite and Separate Us by Karim Ressouni-Demigneux, with illustrations by Karine Maincent.

The book describes how the original borders were natural, such as oceans, rivers, mountains and deserts, and while some of those borders are still in use today, many borders are human made, decided by treaties or carved out by colonizers. It covers the history of people congregating in one place and how city-states evolved into empires, how maps are drawn and how human conflicts can reshape borders.

There are stories about walls that reinforce borders, how borders work in the air and at sea, how people cross borders with passports or as refugees and how climate change is altering the borders of some countries.

You’ll also learn some fun border facts like the fact that if you stand in the middle of the bridge over the Zambezi River you can be in four countries at once because that’s where the borders of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe meet. Or how there is only one border crossing between India and Pakistan that’s closed each night in an elaborate ceremony.

The book talks about time zones, border towns and places where countries and parts of countries are inside other countries and places where borders are less important such as the European Union.

While there are serious subjects in the book, it’s still a fun read that’s sure to interest those kids around ages 8-12 who like travel, maps and weird but true facts.

About the book: 72 pages, hardcover, published 2026 by Blue Dot Kids Press. Suggested retail price $21.95.

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