Customer Reviews

Sam and the Lucky Money

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone loves this book; mothers, teachers and of course, children. Many books about Chinese New Year are non-fiction books that describe the customs of the holiday. What makes this different is that this is a piece of fiction that gives you all the flavors of what it's like in an urban Chinatown during Chinese New Years while at the same time sending a wonderful message of giving. My 3 and 5 year old love this book. My 5 year old's kindergarten teacher loved the book for the same reasons plus it fostered discusssions about the story and the holiday. A class of 18 children sat quietly; listening attentively. The children found the illustrations fascinating. The teacher even loaned our book to another kindergarten teacher. I'm online because I'm getting them their own copy.

Read for a pre-k school Chinese New Year celebration and for a kindergarten celebration and all children were very attentive and interested in the story. Also has a good moral message to about giving.

Great for pre-schoolers to learn about giving and introduce them to Chinese New Year Celebration. Read the book to 3 year olds at a pre-school. Everyone was very attentive. Kids got the message, learnd about giving and appreciation, as well as were introduced to Asian culture. Recommend to ages 3-7.

I cry almost every time I read this book to my 5 1/2 year-old daughter, who is from Hunan. She doesn't...but I do...and we've been reading it for over a year now. I'm hoping she learns compassion and generosity from the story, which it teaches so beautifully in both words and rich illustrations.

my three year old loves this and I do too! it is a great book to share at Xmas as well. The pictures are wonderful and we are giving it to nursery school as part of Chinese New Year celebration.

Sam is a lucky kid. It's Chinese New Year, he has four dollars of HIS own lucky money to spend (and he can spend it however he likes, not just on "practical" things), he has family that loves him enough to give him cash just because it's a holiday... he's got luck coming out of his ears, not that he knows it.

And you know, it's an exciting day. There's the lion, and it's a holiday, and it's crowded, and he's got that money to spend. Of course, when he meets a homeless guy, shoeless in winter, at the beginning of the book, we know where every last one of those four dollars will go by the end of the book. Sam doesn't know it yet, but that's because he's just a kid. He probably doesn't even know he's a character in a book!

So the middle of the book is filled with his frustrating and disheartening realization that four dollars doesn't go nearly as far as he'd like, until his final understanding of how money should be spent at the end.

It's well-written, and fairly realistic, although a little wordy for what is nothing more than a basic morality tale.

This book explains Chinese New Year from a child's point of view. Sam is given red envelopes with money in them and has to decide what to do with the money. He thinks about spending it on himself then decides to help someone in need. A great introduction to Chinese New Year's for small children with a nice message. My 6 year old son really enjoys it. Nice illustrations.

How did I not hear of this book before? Karen Chinn's book Sam and the Lucky Money is one that engages your children in Chinese New Year traditions while teaching a lesson of contentment and generosity. Sam is excited to get his red envelopes from his grandparents for Chinese New Year filled with $4. But, when he goes to Chinatown to buy himself something special, he's frustrated that everything he wants is more than what he was given. When he sees an elderly homeless man without shoes on his feet, he gives all his money to him. I'm more of a bright, funky illustration type of person, so the soft watercolors didn't wow me like they might for some. But, the message is one that does wow me. And, it gives you the opportunity to talk to your child about what it means "to be lucky" and if there even is such a thing.

Wanna read more of my over thinking about CNY themed kids' books? Check out the January 25th, 2012 post on www(dot)myoverthinking(dot)com

Sam gets some lucky money (lai see or hong bao) for Chinese New Year. Of course he wants to spend it and heads to Chinatown with his mom to find something good to buy. He meets a poor shoeless man along the way. Sam goes to a Chinese bakery and sees a lion dance. He settles on a stuffie in a toy store but alas! Not enough lucky money! Unhappy he heads home but decides to make the poor man the lucky recipient of the money. He gets a big hug from grandma when he arrives home.
A great story for kids that shows luck is what you make it! (although I just paraphrased the story as my kids are too young to read)

This book is excellent for children from pre-school through mid-grade school. While the story arc may be obvious for adults, the message is a good one and the emotions of Sam are very realistic as he encounters the homeless man and then returns to his mother's side.

I enjoyed the illustrations and how they conveyed Sam's emotions.