The Year of the Ox: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac

The Year of the Ox by Oliver Chin is the fourth book in the series Tales from the Chinese Zodiac.  Asianmommy.com received a PDF version of this book for free.

This is a cute story with wonderful illustrations by Miah Alcorn.  The book begins with an introduction to the Chinese Zodiac. 

Olivia the Ox is good friends with a little girl named Mei.  Olivia tries to plow the fields, fetch the water, bring the rice to be milled, and help out at the market, but somehow always makes a mess of things.  She's eventually told to just stay behind and out of trouble. 

But one day, when the old dam bursts and the village is about to be flooded, everyone else starts to run away.  It's up to Olivia to save the day.  Can she do it?

What I liked:  This story is a great way to introduce kids to the animals of the Chinese Zodiac calendar and to teach them about the personality traits of the Ox.  The illustrations are really the best part of the book--the characters are goofy, fun, and so alive.

What could be improved:  It would've been nice if they had included the Pinyin with the Chinese characters for the animals, for those who would be interested in learning or practicing a little bit of Chinese.