TJMummy's "lesson plan"

Another mom's found some MAF resources that I didn't know about. Looks like I'll be doing some updating, thanks Anna!

It is for the preschool crowd so pick and chose what works for you.

The Pumpkin Circle

If your child's teacher had students plant seeds in the spring or is planning to talk about Harvest, Halloween pumpkins, Thanksgiving - there is an entrance point for you to talk about Mid-Autumn Festival! You can "plant a seed" in spring yourself by mentioning it to the teacher - even if your child will be in a different class the next year. Maybe your child could visit the "old" class in the fall and help you present something to them? Few schools would have trouble with this - as long as you coordinate the time with both teachers.

The Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson is a lovely picture book that could be used to discuss planting, growing or harvest. Suggested pumpkin seed classroom activities, educational standards, pictures from the book, and clip from the video (narrated by Danny Glover) are on The Pumpkin Circle website. Spring is coming - and they have a $1 pumpkin seed offer for educators on their site too.

Filmmaker, George Levenson won awards for his Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. You can see clips of that and of his companion video, How to Fold A Paper Crane at the Sadako Film Project. To complete a crane, read the full directions for how to fold a paper crane.

See Musical Mandarin for more information on Paper-folding.

Books

Fiction

Moon Lady * by Amy Tan MAF.

Moon Festival by Ching Yeung Russell/Z.Y. Zhang MAF

Round is A Mooncake ** by Rosemary Thong

How The Rooster Got His Crown * Retold by Amy Lowry Poole (398.2 POO in some libraries)
A Miao tale. Their Haoyi sounds like the Hou Yi of others' Mid-Autumn Festival fame.

Paper Lanterns Stefan Czernecki

The Magic Paintbrush Refers to the Moon Lady but does not explain Mid-Autumn Festival. MAF

"Reference Books"

Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz CNY, MAF
Background, crafts, recipes, and legends for 5 Chinese holidays: Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Qing Ming and Dragon Boat Festival.

Mooncakes & Hungry Ghosts Carol Stepanchuk & C. Wong CNY, MAF

Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide To Chinese American Celebrations and Culture by Rosemary Gong CNY, MAF

updated: 9/2007

Resources

There is plenty more about Mid-Autumn Festival, Harvest Festivals, Chinese festivals and China. Here’s more information about the festival, folktales, making mooncakes (although 'no one' does it anymore) and the lady in the moon. The main subjects under Mid-Autumn Festival are: mooncakes, their role in rebellions against the Mongols, the Moon Goddess, and the Jade Rabbit. You may also want to learn more about the Jade Emperor or less common tales such as one of Wu Kang Chopping Down the Cassia Tree. These links were good as of September 2004.

Note: Not all versions of Chang Er’s tale may be appropriate for your child(ren). It is a tale of love and infidelity with a bit of drunkenness, in addition to a tale of love and faith, the birth of agriculture and animal domestication in China.

http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/augustmoonfest.htm includes links to books and other sites, and lists other “thanksgiving”/harvest festivals.
http://www.montreal.com/events/1999/09/24moon.html includes how to make mooncakes, original moon festival folktale & Chang Er, the moon goddess
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/references.htm

Books on Mid-Autumn Festival and China are available from a number of sources or can be ordered from your local bookseller. I assume that these good folks will be around for many more years: www.childbook.com, www.fccny.org. www.pearlriver.com and www.chinasprout.com also sell China objects, mooncakes, chopsticks, decorative objects, and arts and crafts supplies.

Picture Books on China include:

• Moon Lady by Amy Tan
  
• The Empress and the Silkworm by Lily Toy Hong
  
• Moon Festival by Ching Yeung Russell
  
• Round is A Mooncake by Rosemary Thong. (also Red is a dragon, One is a Drummer)
  
• The Seven Chinese Sisters By Kathy Tucker
  
• The Five Chinese Brothers (Paperstar) by Claire Huchet Bishop, Kurt Wiese
  
• The Seven Chinese Brothers(Blue Ribbon Book) by Margaret Mahy, Jean Mou-Sier Tsang

Moon Information

http://www.thenazareneway.com/current_moon_phase.htm

Why is the Harvest Moon the brightest?

Why is the moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox called the “Harvest Moon”? http://earthsky.com/scienceqs/browsefaq.php?f=106

Mooncake Websites

http://kevdesign.com/midautumnfestival/mooncake-variety.htm

Recipes

(first Link broken)

http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/famtrad/foodfolkart/mooncakeofferings/mooncake.htm

http://kevdesign.com/midautumnfestival/recipes.htm

http://adoptshoppe.com/images/artfulgifts/MoonCookiesRecipe.pdf

http://adoptshoppe.com/images/artfulgifts/MoonCakeRecipe.pdf

http://thestar.com.my/kuali/recipes/lunar.html

Mooncake Filling Recipes

http://www.kitchenlink.com/msgbrd/board_3/2000/JUL/4383.html

Easy Chinese Moon Cakes: similar to German jam thumbprint cookies.

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/china/easy_chinese_mooncakes.htm  

http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/china__dim_sum__moon_festi.html 

Molds

Hand-carved, wooden mooncake molds are not always easy to find. Mooncake molds are custom-made usually with the baker’s insignia. The mold is used to shape each mooncake and some have used them off-season to shape butter. The following places have had them in the past but may not always: www.chinasprout.com, www.adoptshoppe.com, www.wokshop.com, and www.pearlriver.com.

Last reviewed: August 2007

Links still being updated.