Huntington author Maria Wen Adcock brings Curious George's Chinese New Year celebration to life

Maria Wen Adcock says her debut children’s book, “It’s Chinese New Year, Curious George,” is so true to the traditions of the holiday that the illustrator she partnered with even changed the color of the tie worn by George’s sidekick, the man in the yellow hat, to red, the Chinese color for good luck.

Adcock, who lives in Huntington, is thrilled that the board book features the iconic monkey whose antics she read about when she was growing up – and that the book stars an Asian girl.  

“I want my children and other kids in their generation in the future to see people who look like them writing books and see people who look like them in the books,” she says.

The girl, Mei (pronounced May), explains to George the Chinese holiday traditions such as wearing red, eating noodles without breaking them to keep bad fortune away in the New Year, and giving children red envelopes with money tucked inside. The book (HarperCollins, $8.99) specifically focuses on Chinese traditions, although a Lunar New Year is celebrated in different ways by numerous Asian cultures, Adcock says. Chinese New Year, which is determined annually by the moon’s cycle, this year falls on Jan. 22 and is dubbed the Year of the Rabbit.

Adcock will read from the book and lead children in holiday themed crafts during a book signing at 2 p.m. Jan. 7 in the auditorium of the Huntington Public Library’s Main Street branch, where Adcock also works in the children’s department. The event is free and open to anyone, but signups are requested on the library website. She’ll also spend much of January doing school visits in person and on Zoom.

“When she told us she wrote this book, we were super excited,” says Laura Giuliani, head of youth and parent services at the library. “Learning about Chinese New Year and her heritage is definitely an educational aspect. It will be a really fun afternoon at the library."

Adcock, 50, is the mother of two – she prefers to use her daughters’ Chinese names, Ailin, 13, and Aimei, 8, when speaking about them publicly – and is married to Matthew, 51, a software engineer, who is not Chinese. She worked in the corporate world for magazines published by Time Inc., including "Entertainment Weekly" and "Real Simple," before leaving the position when her first daughter was born in 2009. She has since then been writing a blog called “Bicultural Mama.”

She’d been pitching manuscripts for children’s books featuring Asian-American culture for years and getting “many, many rejections” until 2021, when an agent took notice of her and connected her with HarperCollins publishing, which wanted to expand the Curious George line of board books to feature more holidays, Adcock says.

"Curious George has been a guide for young readers to experiences both familiar and new in hundreds of books, including many about holiday traditions. We have seen increased interest in books for young children about Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year in recent years," says Bethany Vinhateiro, executive editor for Clarion Books, which is an imprint of HarperCollins. "Adding 'It’s Chinese New Year, Curious George' to our holiday board book line was the perfect opportunity for this beloved character to be part of even more families’ and communities’ celebrations."

Adcock says she is grateful for the match. “To have the opportunity to be associated with this iconic brand and to have this brand celebrate a culture that was my background is just unbelievable,” she says. The Chinese artist for the book, Rea Zhai, illustrated it in the style of H.A. Rey, who created Curious George and died in the 1970s.

The book is entirely in verse, with four stanzas on each spread, so while it’s listed as being for newborn to age 4, it will also keep the interest of older children, Adcock says. It’s more than 500 words in total; a verse about George and Mei attending a New Year’s Day parade reads, “Dragon dance is starting! Drums beat fast and loud. George jumps in to help them – makes the dragon bow!”

While the book features an Asian girl, Adcock says she hopes children of all cultures will read it. “My hope is that they become more aware of the world around them and the people around them,” she says.

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.