15 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Books for Kids in Chinese & English

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Books for Kids in Chinese & English

To learn about 中秋节 (Zhōng qiū jié / Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival), my children and I are having fun reading English and Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival books. This year, we were able to add a couple books on Chuseok (Harvest Festival) from a Korean perspective.

For any given theme, we try to read a variety of books so that we can learn about how different authors and illustrators might interpret and present information. This post features some of our favorites which I hope you can find at the library, Amazon, Chinese or Korean bookstore!

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What is 中秋节 (Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival)?

中秋节 is a centuries-old Asian celebration about the full moon and coming harvest. During this special festival, families would reunite, enjoy spherical fruits and mooncakes, and decorate their home with Chinese lanterns.

This year, 中秋节 holiday falls on September 13, 2019.

Popular folktales include 嫦娥奔月 (Cháng’é ascending to the moon) and 玉兔搗藥 (Jade Rabbit making the elixir of immortality).

Since Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the lunar calendar, it’s the perfect time to learn about moon phases and read picture books about the moon!

This season’s “bathroom shelfie”! Mid-Autumn Festival customs on our wall-mounted book rack

Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival books on our bookcase display

Here’s a peak at Mid-Autumn Festival books on display on our bookshelf!  All of our books are in simplified Chinese and English, but some are available in traditional Chinese and Korean.

In this list, I have included the ISBN and links to online bookstores. Many of these books are also compatible with Luka Reading Robot.

Admittedly, we have too many Mid-Autumn Festival books! Can you tell that I’m trying to compensate for Asian guilt and the lack of culture in my life? 🙂

However, I hope that you are able to find some of these at your local library to save on cost! Perhaps choose which illustrations you think your child will like best, and which length of text matches your child’s developmental level.

More Mid-Autumn Festival learning for kids

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival books in Chinese

中秋节 Mid-Autumn Festival book

《中秋节 – 中国记忆传统节日》 Mid-Autumn Festival Book

This book with realistic illustrations features a grandparent telling his grandchild about Mid-Autumn Festival.

中秋节 Mid-Autumn Festival book

《中秋节》 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Interactive Lift-the-flap Book

This is a fun, hands-on book that shows how Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated!

满月 (Mǎnyuè / Full Moon) book by 保冬妮

满月 Mǎnyuè / Full Moon

Please see my detailed review of 保冬妮’s beautiful story 满月 (Full Moon) for ISBN information and more photos. This is hands-down one of our favorite picture books!!

中秋节之嫦娥奔月 (Zhōngqiū jié zhī cháng'é bēn yuè / The Moon Goddess Chang'e)

《中秋节之嫦娥奔月》 Zhōngqiū jié zhī cháng’é bēn yuè / The Moon Goddess Chang’e

中秋节之嫦娥奔月 is available on Amazon and is part of the Chinese Library Series – Pre-Intermediate Level Folktales. Please see that post for detailed review with photos and ISBN information.

Please note that the accompanying CD did not work for us in a regular audio CD player because it was a VCD that required a computer CD player.

中秋节 Mid-Autumn Festival Book in simplified Chinese and Pinyin

《中秋节》 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Book

This book is part of the popular 中国传统节日绘本全套10册 Traditional Chinese Festival Set of 10 books.

Personally, we don’t like the cartoonish illustrations as much as the realistic pictures in the aforementioned books. However, I’m including it since it’s one of the few books with Hanyu Pinyin and free Mandarin audio narration.

  • 作者 (Author): 牟文正
  • Where to buy:
    • Simplified Chinese with Pinyin / ISBN: 9787511037657
  • Audio narration: Ximalaya
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festical Mooncake book with pinyin

今天我们做月饼

This book is part of another popular series about Chinese food traditions and festivals that we adore! I love how the dad is involved with cooking with the kids. Each page shows the steps involve in making mooncakes.

  • Author: 林文佩
  • Where to buy:
    • Simplified Chinese with Pinyin / 9789814791243
Greenfield I Can Read Series 中秋节 Mid-Autumn Festival Book in simplified Chinese and Pinyin

《中秋节》 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Book

Part of the Greenfield I Can Read Leveled Reader Series available in simplified and traditional Chinese with audio CD and pinyin!

Full review of Greenfield Chinese readers and shopping links here.

《节日 / 節日》Chinese Holidays

Part of the Le Le Chinese Reading Pen Graded Readers – Please see that post for details! These books come in both simplified and traditional Chinese!

《小星星的大月饼》A Big Mooncake for Little Star

Originally written in English, Grace Lin’s popular book has been translated in Chinese as well! Our favorite page is when Little Star eats the big mooncake bite by bite, with the resulting shape appearing like moon phases!

  • Author: Grace Lin
  • Where to buy:

Children’s picture books about the Moon in Chinese and English

爸爸,我要月亮 (Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me) Eric Carle Book《爸爸,我要月亮》 Bàba, Wǒ Yào Yuèliàng / Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me

Audio recording on Ximalaya: click here to listen.

  • 作者 (Author): Eric Carle
  • Where to buy:
  • Audio narration:
    • Compatible with Luka Reading Robot
    • YouTube

Related: Eric Carle Picture Books for Children in Chinese and Korean!

月亮 (The Moon Book) Gail Gibbons

2.《月亮 Yuèliàng / The Moon Book

Part of the Gail Gibbon’s Children’s Encyclopedia Series, this informative book is a great introduction to moon science.

  • 作者 (Author): Gail Gibbons
  • Simplified Chinese / ISBN: 9787544745154
  • English
月亮, 生日快乐 (Happy Birthday, Moon) Frank Asch

3.《月亮, 生日快乐》 Yuèliàng, shēngrì kuàilè / Happy Birthday, Moon

This adorable book is loved by my kids, and we’ve read it dozens of times. A little bear “talks” to the moon by thinking his echos are the moon’s voice.

Audio recording of 月亮, 生日快乐 on Ximalaya: click here to listen.

  • 作者 (Author): Frank Asch
  • Where to buy:
Goodnight Moon Chinese

4. 《晚安,月亮 》Wǎn’ān, yuèliàng / Goodnight, Moon!

It think most parents know this classic book from their own childhood! The English version has a great rhyme, and the Chinese translation is pretty catchy as well!

Here’s an recording of Goodnight, Moon in Taiwanese Mandarin from Miss Panda Chinese! See if you like the translation before buying the Chinese version!

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Books in English

1. 《小星星的大月饼》A Big Mooncake for Little Star

Originally written in English, Grace Lin’s popular book has been translated in Chinese as well! Our favorite page is when Little Star eats the big mooncake bite by bite, with the resulting shape appearing like moon phases!

  • Author: Grace Lin
  • Where to buy:
Thanking the Moon - Mid Autumn Festival Book by Grace Lin

2. Thanking the Moon

This picture book for toddlers gives a simple overview of Mid-Autumn Festival traditions.

  • Author: Grace Lin
  • Where to buy:
    • English / ISBN: 9780375861017

3. Round is a Moon Cake

This is a cute book that focuses on shapes in the context of Chinese cultural items. The rhyming text is great for toddlers and preschoolers.

  • Author: Grace Lin
  • Where to buy:
    • English / ISBN: 9781452136448

4. Lin Yi’s Lantern

  • Author: Brenda Williams
  • Where to buy:
    • English / ISBN: 9781846867934
The Moon Lady - Mid Autumn Festival Book by Amy Tan

5. The Moon Lady

Of all picture books listed here, this book is much more detailed and advanced with long pages of rich narrative. This story is different from the others listed here as it’s not about the history of Mid-Autumn Festival. Rather, this is a tale adapted from Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club.

  • Author: Amy Tan
  • Where to buy:
    • English / ISBN: 9780689806162

6. Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival

In this version of Mid-Autumn Festival, a grandfather tells the story of Hou Yi who shot down the nine suns. Then Chang’E takes his potion of immortality before the thief can take it.

  • Author: Sanmu Tang
  • Where to buy:
    • English / ISBN: 9781602209695

7. Mooncakes

This book was recommended by many of you, so I had to add it to our list! We haven’t had the chance to read it, but Amazon reviews rave about how the story focuses on parents sharing the history of Mid-Autumn Festival with their children.

  • Author: Loretta Seto
  • Where to buy:
    • English / ISBN: 9781459814318

What are your favorite Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival books?

I hope you can enjoy some of these Mid-Autumn Moon festival books with your family! 

If you have other favorites not listed here, please share in the comments below! We’d love to check them out!

More Chinese books for kids

中秋节快乐 (Zhōngqiū jié kuàilè / Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)!

4 Comments

  1. This book is good too. “The Shadow In The Moon: A Tale of the Mid-Autumn Festival”. by Christina Matula. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

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