It is a fantastic story about family traditions and heritage: a little girl asks her father a simple question and receives an eye-opening family history lesson in return.

Such a cute one for Lunar New Year. And once again, I love that they call it LNY for inclusivity. More people than the Chinese celebrate this holiday.

Beautiful story. Beautiful illustrations. Loved learning some Mandarin words. 新年快乐!

I have read several full length novels that rely heavily on Chinese, Korean, or Japanese cultures. It’s nice to read a warm heartfelt story about a tradition, and then be given directions on how to make food in said tradition.

Growing up, I never heard about Lunar New Year. Then I lived in Taiwan for three years and when I returned to the United States I began working in schools with diverse groups of students. I wish I would have had more exposure to other cultural traditions. This book offers that window for kids to understand cultural traditions they have not been exposed to or to provide more information for those who take part in cultural traditions without knowing all the story behind different elements.

This is a fantastic addition to elementary school libraries.

Thank you to Net Galley, Quarto Publishing Group, and becker & mayer! kids for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

This picture book tells a family story about kindness and remembering ancestors. The little girl asks her father why they always eat fried peanuts at Lunar New Year and he tells her the story of her great grandmother and how she rescued a newborn baby who she nicknamed little peanut. The father shares traditions such as sweeping the graves of ancestors, and also some of the history of their family and country, such as the Chinese civil war and the way that sometimes female ancestors' names were lost when passing down stories to generations. The book ends with quite a bit of information about themes and topics from the story, as well as a recipe for fried peanuts. Each page also has short translations with pronunciation guides, giving readers the opportunity to learn some words in Mandarin as they read. The font is a bit small and often over a multi-coloured background, but it is clear and easy to read. The illustrations are excellent and really bring the reader into the story. I love that this book is about Lunar New Year without being a simple "what is Lunar New Year" type story. This way readers still learn about the holiday but there is an interesting story woven throughout. I could definitely see myself reading this to my class or purchasing a copy for my classroom library. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

Family history, Chinese culture, and celebration traditions—this story is as heartwarming as the kind woman being remembered. I lived the Mandarin words on each page, helping with pronunciation. I had my 3yo daughter repeat each one so she was learning the words, too. This is a great story for any family, especially those looking for exposure to Chinese culture. My family has zero Chinese heritage, but I’m always excited about exposing myself and my kids to stories and people who come from different backgrounds than me. Thanks, NetGalley!

Why We Eat Fried Peanuts by Zed Zha is an insightful look into the Chinese New Year, with main character Mèng being taught about the family's history and their tradition of making fried peanuts, learning exactly why they eat them every year. Her father's story about one of their ancestors is touching and age appropriate, handling serious matters with care.

The end of the novel features a Q&A filled with interesting facts about Chinese history and culture, as well a recipe for your very own fried peanuts!

These stories are needed to add to the lush diversity of our world. I’ve been gifted fried peanuts for years and never questioned where the history came from. This is a nice take on tradition.

Why We Eat Fried Peanuts is a cute and informative picture book about one of the traditions of Lunar New Year. Mèng learns about her family history as we follow her great-grandmother in China. The text is interspersed with Chinese with a helpful pronunciation guide on each page. The illustrations are lively and engaging. This is a great book to introduce children to different aspects of the holiday. Thanks to Quatro Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very educational book and the illustrations were beautiful. However, I feel like the title was misleading. I thought this would be about why it's common to eat peanuts in chinese culture but instead we learned about one specific reason and you find out why in the glossary.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

I adore this book. The illustrations are so beautiful and colourful. The story is sweet and important. I appreciate how we are given information about some of the Chinese words and their origin. I can't wait to share this with my own children and the children in my classroom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – becker&mayer! kids for the e-ARC to read and review. This is a lovely story about family, heritage, tradition, culture, and food, all in one! The illustrations are gorgeous, and the personal family story about a broader Chinese tradition is a great way to showcase the importance of Lunar New Year. Lots of informative back matter, bilingual definitions, and a fried peanut recipe to really round out the experience.

Such an engaging and informative picture book, to learn more about Lunar New Year. This book has prompted many learning opportunities for my children about Chinese food, customs, history and culture. We also greatly appreciate the addition of the language prompts on each spread and learning how to pronounce various words in Mandarin. Such vibrant and delightful illustrations add to the beauty of this book. This book would be a great addition in any classroom, or family bookshelf to prompt learning more about Lunar New Year.

With thanks to Quarto Publishing Group for the digital review copy, via NetGalley. This review is voluntary, and all opinions are my own.

This is such a lovely little book. I don't normally read young children's books for myself but this one caught my attention due to our multi cultural family - my son is half Chinese but growing up outside of China and thus it's always nice if we can add books like this one to our family library.

The story is quite simple and short, but it's told lovingly and I appreciate how Mandarin was sprinkled into the dialogue as well as having footnotes with explanations. It doesn't focus so much on common Lunar New year themes such as red envelopes but instead has a strong focus on familial elements as well as the Qingming [grave sweeping] festival.

What I loved the most were the beautiful illustrations - they're colourful and feel cheerful which just matches the story perfectly. There are also a few nice discussion questions added at the end as well as a recipe for fried peanuts.

A charming, informative kids picture book which shares insights into Chinese culture through a sweet family story.

Why We Eat Fried Peanuts is a great story that shows a little girl learning about her family's customs during Lunar New Year. I loved the detailed illustrations and felt them to be very warm and comforting. The Chinese words and definitions were a nice touch and teach the reader a few words in a language that may be new to them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Zed Zha, and Quarto Publishing for the chance to read and review.

I really enjoyed reading this book to my children. The format of using Mandarin words throughout the story added to the dimension.

I thought that this book was really good.

It is well written, easy to follow and understand and it has some lovely illustrations.

I loved the addition of the different Mandarin words through the book which was a nice touch as well as learning the origins of why Fried Peanuts are chosen to be eaten during the festivities and why they are so significant, the book has a great insight in to the culture and traditions.

This would be a great addition to the libraries at Primary School. In the UK they learn about Chinese New Year and those celebrations so this would be a great follow on for that.

It is 5 stars from me for this one - very highly recommended!

Beautifully illustrated, this picture book shows Northern Chinese traditions, history and words (in Mandarin - with spelling) to the reader, raising importance of tradition and reverence for your ancestors no matter where you are now. The story focuses on the protagonist's now deceased grand-grandmother who was helping people in her town during pre WW2 times.

This picture book serves the role of introducing various cultural concepts to Chinese diaspora children and anyone who wants to learn about these traditions and values.

The illustrations are full of warmth and emotion, and do a great job easing the reader into some of the more serious subjects raised in the book (like poverty and war, or the role of women in the society).

The language feels complex enough I would recommend it to pre-school and early elementary school children who are of Chinese descent or interested in Chinese culture.

Thank you NetGalley, Becker&Mayer and Quarto Publishing Group for the arc.

I absolutely adore this book from the illustrations to the story. I love how readers are immersed in Chinese culture by learning words, traditions, and more. This would be an excellent resource in a classroom and a great way to introduce young readers to culture studies. Teachers can use this book as an anchor text for students to start their own research projects as well. I enjoyed the recipe tie-in as well as the important moments page.