Age range 9 to 12

A moving picture book to read when we’re missing family far away, set during Lunar New Year. It’s Lunar New Year, a time when families come together for a wonderful feast, and a father longs to be with his daughter — but she lives in another country. As he imagines how his daughter is spending the festivities, he recalls fond memories of time spent with her, feeling a sense of loss and dislocation. While he misses her deeply, he also recognises her need to move away, grow up, and become herself.

New Year’s Eve is a beautiful and lovingly portrayed portrait of leaving home, finding independence, and loving those who are many miles away. At a time when so many families are unable to gather together, readers will relate to the universal message of missing our loved ones and dreaming of being together again.