GUARDIANS OF THE NEW MOON THE YEAR OF THE RAT BY ERIC HUANG Book 2
Illustrated by Phung Nguyen Quang
Pages 160
For 6-9-Years
Published by Little Tiger 9th January 2025
ISBN 9781788957380
Fresh from the excitement of the Great Race, Ming and Miaow are the Guardians of the New Moon and eager for more adventure! Their first official mission: to take the race-winner Su home and help her prepare for the first ever Year of the Rat. Things have been tense with Su since the rat tricked Miaow during the race, and when the pair’s arguments evoke the rage of a powerful sea goddess, chaos ensues. Can the long-time frenemies learn to work together, or is the Year of the Rat doomed to start in disaster?
MY REVIEW
Now this a book Guardians of the New Moon, The Year of the Rat, I truly enjoyed so much, as is full of amazing imagination from author Eric Huang, with mischief, and excitement of magic. This story has it all with lots of magic and spells, just what all children 6-9-year-olds love! The Guardians of the New Moon are Ming, a magical, nine-tailed fox who can shapeshift between a fox and a girl. ( I connected with the name Ming as I once had a black half Siamese cat named Ming that followed me everywhere ) Miaow is a cat, and Su is a rat who was winner of the Great Race. First Ming, Miaow and Su, are summoned to the palace to see an Emperor where they will complete some paperwork, to become Guardians of the New Moon, which will entail them with a special job to do. But at the temple, Miaow, the cat, causes chaos for Jade Emperor, who is very angry with them. Everywhere around the palace, Ming, Miaow and Su cause nothing but trouble, which an underwater Empress of the Ocean , Mazu, has cast a funny spell on Miaow the cat, and Su the rat. And beware, lurking there in their sea, are sea spirits. I absolutely loved the whole story from beginning to end. At the back of the book are very interesting educational facts about the lunar zodiac signs, which I had fun looking up to see what animal I represented, with telling my whole family which animal they are. And there are some true Chinese belief, facts about each of the characters. I absolutely admire all the illustrations of all of the cast of characters, by the illustrator, Phung Nguyen Quang. I highly recommend this totally brilliant book to all children.
About author Eric Huang
Eric Huang has always been fascinated by legends and lore. As a boy he wanted to find real-life dragons, so he studied palaeontology at university. Reality didn’t live up to his Jurassic Park dreams, though, and he found himself working as secretary at Disney Publishing, launching a career in children’s books. Since then, Eric has held editor and publisher positions on three continents, including at Penguin Australia and Penguin UK. Eric lives in London. He’s a podcaster, writer, and a Masters in Publishing lecturer at City St George’s, University of London.
Follow Eric on Instagram.
