The Mid-Autumn Festival gives Miya's Mooncakes its celebration, but Miya's attention is drawn to something less festive: the people around her no longer seem to share her excitement. Crystal Z. Lee builds the story around a child who notices that change and decides to do something about it. Mooncakes, lanterns, family traditions, and community become part of Miya's plan to make the holiday meaningful again, connecting cultural tradition with a child's capacity for empathy and initiative.
Miya's Mooncakes
by Crystal Z. Lee
Category: Children's Fiction (Ages 3-7), 40 pages
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Balestier Press
Publication Date: June, 2026
Tour Dates: Sep 8 to Sep 28
Content Rating: G
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It's almost time for Miya's favorite holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival. She loves all the holiday traditions: moon gazing, lighting lanterns, and best of all, baking and eating mooncakes! Miya notices that many in her town seem to have lost the holiday spirit lately, including those in her school and in her family. Miya has an idea to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in a more meaningful manner this year. It will involve some extra special mooncakes and the entire neighborhood. Can Miya pull it off in time for the festival?
This is a story of ingenuity, empathy, creating new traditions while honoring old ones. It's also an ode to neighbors, immigrants, and all those that make up a community!
Miya's Mooncakes is the perfect storytime book. This book has an easy, natural flow that makes the story feel just right for a group read-aloud or family storytime. This is a great story for families who enjoy books about cultural traditions, food, holidays, and community. What I loved most, though, was the value the story places on connection and sharing. Miya doesn't keep the joy of her family's traditions to herself—she finds a way to share that joy with others. The book reminds us that traditions can help us connect with our families while also giving us an opportunity to reach out, include others, and strengthen our community.
Allie Su's illustrations add so much warmth to Miya's story. The colors are welcoming and happy, and the artwork gives young readers plenty to look at while the story is being read aloud. I especially liked how the illustrations highlight Mid-Autumn Festival details and elements for children who may be learning about the celebration for the first time. The food, festivities, people, and everyday moments surrounding Miya give children a lovely, visual introduction to the traditions in the story. At the same time, the expressive characters match the author's story tone perfectly.
Would I recommend Miya's Mooncakes by Crystal Z. Lee? I would happily add this one to a family bookshelf, classroom, or library, both as a Mid-Autumn Festival read and as a story to use when talking with children about kindness, sharing, traditions, and being part of a community. I particularly like that children don't need to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival themselves to understand Miya's desire to bring people in her community together. It gives parents and caregivers a chance to introduce a cultural celebration while also opening up a conversation about the traditions our own families treasure and how sharing them can help us connect with others.
Crystal Z. Lee is a writer who divides her time between the U.S. and Asia. She is an avid traveler. Her favorite travel memories include island hopping in Italy, hiking the Ever White Mountain near the border of North Korea, sipping afternoon tea in Portuguese palaces and Irish castles, admiring Peranakan tiles in Singapore, sailing in the Aegean Sea, trekking on a biblical archaeological expedition in Türkiye, voyaging to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and making mooncakes and pineapple cakes in Taiwan.
Her stories are often inspired by her journeys. Besides children's books, Crystal's other published works consist of poetry and a novel. She is also the author of Pei's Pineapple Cakes, Mei's Mermaid Mission, Kai the Dancing Butterfly, A Unicorn Named Rin, and Love and Other Moods.
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Allie Su grew up in Yunlin county, Taiwan. She often finds her illustration inspiration from the great outdoors. One of her favorite places to hike in Taiwan is Sun-Link-Sea Forest in Nantou. She adores Taiwanese cuisine and night market foods, such as stinky tofu, vegetarian noodles and taro pastries from Taichung. Allie also illustrated Mei's Mermaid Mission and Kai the Dancing Butterfly.
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