Every Month Is a New Year

Review
By Booklist

This celebration of new year celebrations around the world is itself worth celebrating. Readers must turn the book on its side to enjoy the wall-calendar dimensions of each spread, all of which feature a short, gently-rhyming poem told from an individual child’s point of view about commemorations from Times Square to Chile, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Jordan, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, and Thailand. They’re organized chronologically across the Gregorian calendar, as a piece about Wep Ronpet (as marked in Ancient Egypt and now some U.S. communities) explains: “Everyone believes in a different beginning. / The Year may start for me, for you, anew in January, April, May, / or in some other month, on some other day. . . . But what is true and what is clear is that all of us hope for a luminous year.” The collage illustrations using paper sourced from across the globe are spectacular, with culturally distinctive elements yet a consistent style, and the back matter is stellar and solid, with additional information, pronunciations, a map, and thorough source notes. This complete package is an illuminating and respectful appreciation of both our global uniqueness and our commonality.