We are six days into 2026, having just celebrated the start of a new calendar year. But not everyone ushers in a new year in the same way, or even at the same time! All around the world and in different communities in the United States, families celebrate the start of a new year at different times throughout the year, with different foods, activities, and practices. Want to learn more? Well, picture books are the way to go!
In this blog post, we will highlight some picture books about various celebrations of the new year, including Lunar New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and more. These titles are a great way to mark your own new year's celebration, or learn more about how other families commemorate the occasion.
Most of us may celebrate the new year on the first day of January, but there's different ways to celebrate!
Haitian families throughout the world eat Soup Jomou, or Freedom Soup, to celebrate the success of the Haitian Revolution on January 1, 1804. In Freedom Soup, young Belle helps her Ti Gran make the soup while the older woman tells her granddaughter about how the Haitian people won their freedom from their colonial masters.
Little Ava Gabriela is nervous about celebrating New Year's Eve in Colombia with so many family members. But she soon gets into the celebrations, including helping make the Año Viejo doll for when the clock strikes twelve!
Shanté Keys and her parents are visiting Grandma on New Year's Day, but oh no! Grandma forgot the black-eyed peas! Luckily, her granddaughter is here to visit the neighbors to see if she can borrow some peas. Along the way, she'll see the different ways the families in the neighborhood celebrate a new year.
It's somewhat counterintuitive to celebrate the start of a new year when it's still winter. That's why some families celebrate the the new year in the spring, when plants and flowers are again blooming and the days are getting longer!
In Seven Special Somethings, young Kian helps his parents get ready to celebrate Nowruz, or Persian New Year. Central to the celebration is the sofreh haft-seen, or a special display of seven items that all begin with the letter "S" in Farsi. But after a chaotic mishap with their pet cat Sonny, Kian has to find new "S" items for the table! Will he find seven new things in time?
Among the Anishinaabe in what is now called North America, spring is the start of the new year, when plants and animals are waking from their long winter rest and the maple trees can finally be tapped for syrup. In Spring's Miracles, a young girl named Dani is excited to celebrate with her family during their camping trip!
For Jewish families, the new year comes during the traditional autumn months of September and October! During Rosh Hashanah, people take stock of the year past. Families go to synagogue, and listen to the shofar blow. They also gather to eat foods that will bring a sweet new year, like apples dipped in honey.
While many of us may only think of Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year is celebrated in many countries!
In Bringing in the New Year, celebrated Taiwanese American author Grace Lin shows us how a family gets ready for the new year. They tidy the house, hang up lanterns, and make dumplings. Finally, a colorful dragon leads a joyous and noisy parade. The new year is here at last!
Seollal is Mina's favorite day of the year, and she is so excited to show her classmates how the new year is celebrated in Korea. She proudly wears her hanbok to school. Her little brother, however, is so mad about his hanbok that he throws a tantrum! Will a bowl of tteokguk help smooth things over?
Mai cannot wait to celebrate the new year, or Tết, with her extended Vietnamese family. But she's not so sure about wearing an áo dài, even if it is new. How can she be a movie star if she's not wearing a gown? But a story about her beloved grandmother soon helps Mai see that wearing an áo dài is a very special thing.
Tomorrow is New Year in Malaysia, but Jin can already smell the feast his Mamah, or grandmother is cooking up for the new year. He so badly wants to help in the kitchen, but his aunties think he'll get in the way. But Mamah doesn't think so, and what she says goes.
For a whole list of picture books for the new year, check out the catalog widget above. However you may have celebrated on January 1 or will celebrate in the coming weeks and months, we here at NPL hope your year is what you want and need.
