The Festival of Ice and Snow by Angie Cui, Anna Wilson

Title: The Festival of Ice and Snow

Author: Angie Cui, Anna Wilson

Genre: Non-Fiction

Publisher: UQP

Published: 4^th August 2026

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 40

Price: $26.99

Synopsis: Based on the author’s treasured childhood memories of attending the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in China, this bilingual picture book is a spectacular celebration of family, cultural traditions and wintertime splendour.

Every year, Grandpa takes us to the Festival of Ice and Snow – and every year, I can’t wait!

Two children and their beloved grandpa experience the wonder of Harbin’s Ice and Snow World, an enchanting place filled with super slides, tasty treats and huge ice sculptures illuminated by multicoloured lights.

Told in English and simplified Chinese, this picture book captures the fun of the winter festival and spending time with loved ones.

~*~

Angie Cui’s new picture book is about a very special festival she used to go to as a child in China, with her grandfather. Every year in the winter, they’d go to the Festival of Ice and Snow in Harbin. It’s filled with ice sculptures, super slides and tasty treats that they look forward to every year. It cold and fun, and a joyful day that brings them closer together.

Angie Cui has told this story in English and simplified Chinese, so this is a bilingual book, with each language on opposite pages. Readers, therefore, can read in either language, or both languages if they know both. It would also be a good resource for those learning either Chinese or English as a second language to see how storytelling works in both languages and how to recognise each language. It means that this makes the book an accessible one for people who speak both languages or want to speak both languages.

It’s one of the first truly bilingual books I have seen, and so far as a reviewer, I have only read or come across two. The other one was a Wiradjuri book, giwang, that had one Wiradjuri word and one English word on each page. Other books that have had two languages have often been mostly English with words from the other language peppered in throughout as needed.

There are benefits to these too, because even the ones that have a smattering of other languages can help us learn. What makes this one special is that it is about a childhood experience as well, and the images make you feel like you are there. Readers are invited into the story, to experience what Angie and her brother and grandfather are experiencing. It’s bittersweet too, because there is a sense that things will never be the same once these joyous days end.

It’s the kind of book that has joy and beauty, that we can connect to and learn from. Seeing what different countries and cultures celebrate is a wonderful thing and makes us appreciate diversity. It shows us how to appreciate the little things, what we find joy in and what it means to be part of a loving family, as well as embracing the beauty of different cultures.

This is a lovely picture book, and I hope it finds lots of readers who will get a lot out of it.