Teaching children the folklore of the zodiac

The authors wanted to take a story that is "deeply Chinese" and bring it to mainstream culture, especially as the Lunar New Year holiday becomes more recognizable to people outside of the Asian community, they said.

"It's a holiday where there already is some familiarity with it out there with other ethnicities," Harita said. "They know it exists. It's easier to digest and accept a culture in a very easy way without feeling like you're knocking someone over the head with it. I think that's important - that awareness with Chinese New Year becoming much more mass accepted across the nation."

"It helps to get people more involved in the culture rather than taking something that's a very detailed specific story," she said. "The Great Race was a great choice to ease people to introducing the culture to them and kids."

Harita said that there are many books dedicated to different Asian folklore tales, but much of them are designed and illustrated in ways that children might not be able to appreciate. The art is meant more for adults, and may be harder for children to grasp, she said.

Several drafts of the book were tested with about 100 children, parents and teachers, and they were all well-received, with the children heavily engaging with the story and relating it to their own lives, Harita said.

"It's important to spread that sort of cultural awareness out there, and just be more socially conscious," she said. "I'm a mom of twins, and I think it's important as a parent. ABCs and 123s and education, we focus so hard on it, but I also think it's really important to give kids some balance with social and cultural awareness."

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com