Cover Image: Lucky Cat

Lucky Cat

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Member Reviews

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was the sweetest book! I loved the illustrarionsnas well. In our permanent rotation now.

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I thought this was a great book. I found that the addition of the lucky cat added just enough magic to hold attention to the story, without overshadowing the themes of immigration and Asian culture.

I would highly recommend to my other friends with kids.

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When June and her family move to America they are eager to get a new start in life. But for this immigrant family things don't go exactly to plan. Their ventures don't always work but they have a lucky cat statue that they are convinced will help their luck change.

This was such a beautifully illustrated book with a really lovely and heartwarming story. I think it's such a good one as it shows different culture,  moments of struggle and I think lots of readers will really love this book.

Thank you to the authors,  publishers and netgalley for my review copy.

Release date is September 20th.

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My child asked me to reread this not just once, but TWICE. I had to hand off the third reading to my husband, to get some alone time. If my kid asks for a repeat reading, I always bump a book up a star, but I was going to give this 5 stars even before that!

June and her family have just moved from China to America, and are ready to start a new life running a sushi restaurant. And this restaurant comes with a little helper: Lucky Cat, a jīnmāo or maneki-neko, is a beckoning cat statue that comes alive only for June. Lucky Cat loves to help, but often causes problems. After causing the family business to fail many times, June finally realizes that what her family is actually good at (and what Lucky Cat enjoys most) is their family baos. Thus, lucky cat guides the family to success, as well as herself to an always-full tummy.

Lucky Cat herself is rendered in a cartoon style that would be so wonderfully adapted to a little mini-movie. I could really see this being a Pixar short, or a little Netflix special. In fact, the whole FEEL of the story reminds me a lot of Netflix's "Over the Moon." Someone, present this story to the creative team, ASAP! I'd love to see this as their next project.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

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Ahhhh this book! My 4yo son and I loved it. Lucky Cat follows June & her family who have immigrated to start a family business. They struggle to find a perfect fit but with their Lucky Cat, they believe it will all work out. And even if it doesn’t, they have each other. The message is beautiful & we will definitely be purchasing/recommending!

Thank you so much NetGally, and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books for this preview!

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ADORABLE AND SO HEARTWARMING! Also, will make you and your littles SO HUNGRY!

This book has such a sweet message about bravery, perseverance through trying times, being grateful for the things that are going right and most importantly, that luck really is the product of determination and hard work.

My daughters and I adored every second of this story and cannot wait to have a physical copy! My toddler was mesmerized by the magical lucky cat, my first grader loved the main character and related to her big move away from her old home and I adored the illustrations (and the bao!).

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Lucky Cat is a picture book that tells the story of an immigrant family from a child’s point of view. June is trying to adapt as her parents try to get a business up and running. They show her a Lucky Cat statue and let her know how it should bring good things to them. But…first there are challenges as the figure comes to life and is seemingly seen only by June. Will things ever work out? Read this one to find out.

The author of this book gives a hopeful message. It is that families will benefit from keeping on trying and that the love of one’s family matters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

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This is a very cute and short story. The lucky cat has many ‘surprises’ in store for the family who is trying to open a small business.

This is a beautiful story of perseverance and it also shows the importance of never giving up. The illustrations are absolutely lovely and they truly add to the magic of the story.

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This was a cute read about a family struggling to make multiple small businesses to succeed. The daughter June has the help of a special Chinese Lucky Cat who messes up a bit more than they help! The story is easy to read and straight forward, and the illustrations are gorgeous. They look like they could be a Pixar movie! Overall a sweet but not exactly exciting or memorable book.

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Good story that shows the struggle of immigrant families trying to run a business in a new country.

Lucky Cat is a Children’s picture book written about an immigrant family moving to America opening and running what they hope will be a successful restaurant. June’s Mama is excited that there is a Lucky Cat left behind at this restaurant. Although June and the new feline do their best to to help out, it appears that Lucky Cat is not able to help out as she would like to and that, funny enough, luck might not be on her side. With time, June’s family works hard to find a business venture that will work for them. And learn that luck is not everything - hard work and dedication pay off.

One of the major strengths of this picture book is the beauty of the illustrations, most often occupying the entire page. At times, it feels like looking at stills from a major film production. There are beautifully captured character emotions and details in the book. Though, I’m not a fan of the image of the Lucky Cat stuck in the wash - of course this is a fictional, magical cat but I think this visual is just unnecessary and doesn’t add to story. Additionally, the text was difficult to read in pages that have a grey background with black text.

Regarding the story, I like the overall themes, that real luck is earned through hard work and perseverance. While June of course wants to help out , it is a bit odd to me that June is more concerned about the businesses than her parents appear to be at times. However, being the daughter of an immigrant family that ran a family business myself, I understand having concern as a child and trying to help out. I just wish June didn’t feel like she had to take so much responsibility for it all since she’s just a kid after all.

Overall, I think this is a good story and enjoyed reading it as it shows the amount of hard work and perseverance it takes for immigrant families to succeed when moving to a new country.

Numerical rating: 3.25

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

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This has a good message of the importance of family and doing your best even if you fail. It helps make the reader think about what it means to be lucky.

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You all have seen the lucky cat in asian businesses, with the waving paw? In this story the cat comes to life, and tries to help a young immigrant family and their business.

But what is odd to me, is that none of the businesses they run are ones they are enthusiastic about. It is almost as though they are just doing what they think they should be doing. And the lucky cat is not so lucky, as it pushes them out of each business, causing it to fail.

It isn't until the daughter comes up with the idea of selling their baos, steamed dumplings, that are so good, that they succeed, without the lucky cats help.

Cute drawings, but the story just makes me cringe. Why go after businesses that you dont' like? Very heavy handled.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

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This picture book tells the story of a little girl named June and her family. The family move to an apartment above a sushi restaurant. Her parents tell her that the cat statue will bring them luck. Sure enough, that night the statue comes to life and helps June get the restaurant ready, surprising her parents. At first the restaurant is great, but then the lucky cat makes some mistakes and customers complain. Eventually the family has to close the restaurant. They try a bunch of other designs which are equally unsuccessful. June blames the cat and yells at it. Then she thinks back on how the cat just tried its best, and finally she suggests the family open a restaurant that is more related to their culture, and begin selling bao. The new restaurant is more successful and June feels bad for yelling at the lucky cat. The lucky cat comes back to life and lets June know everything is fine, and goes back to being a statue when customers are around. This book tells a sweet story with a moral about being true to who you are, believing in luck and tradition, and being kind to others who are just trying to help. The pictures are beautiful and the story is very well written. I also love that culture plays a huge role in this story and that June’s family is successful when they embrace their culture and their community welcomes them. As a grade 3 teacher, I would highly recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the 4-10 age range. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this wonderful book!

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Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read.
Overall the book is adorable. June and her family moved into a new place and one night she discovers the Lucky cat and the secret magic it possesses. Both of them try to get everything ready to open but they soon realize that things did not always go according to plan. That plot is repeated several times because that family overcomes a lot on their journey to opening a family business. Eventaully, they do fine their way.

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#LuckyCat #AsianBossGirl #EuniceChen#FrancesLincolnChildrensBooks #NetGalley

This is a charming tale of Mama, Baba and little June, who through a series of misfortunes, find what they were meant to do.

When June and her parents go to their new Sushi restaurant, they find a Lucky Cat sitting there. Dad explains that it is a symbol of good luck. However, it seems that bad luck follows them from one venture to the next until they find their sweet spot.

It is a story of perseverance and hard work, interspersed with June's mystical interactions with Lucky Cat.

It is an enjoyable read and the illustrations are lovely.

This is a review of the ARC of this book.

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As an Asian-American growing up in the US, there were stupid little children's books that represented me growing up. I'm glad the tides have shifted.

A Chinese family moves to the US chasing the American dream. They first open a sushi restaurant. It fails. So do various other businesses.

So many businesses fail. There is a lot of truth in this. It doesn't hurt to learn it young.

What does the family love? Bao! When they start a business making what they love, it is a remarkable success.

Lingering in the background is the familiar image of the lucky cat. You've probably seen one at every Chinese restaurant you've ever been to.

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Such a cute story set around the Japanese figurine believed t bring luck to it's owner.

I loved the family focus of the story and the images were quite enjoyable. I will love reading this to a class when it comes out.

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My six year old daughter enjoyed this lovely little story. Her favorite part was the adorable Lucky Cat! I will say her attention did go in and out about half way through so this might be better for ages 7+!

Thank you Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

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This was adorable. We just finished this and I thought it was a great family story. Lucky Cat follows the story of June and her family and their attempts at opening a sushi restaurant, a laundromat, and numerous other business that just don’t succeed. June can’t help but be defeated. Surprisingly, finding comfort in homemade food, she finds their next endeavor, a business making one of her favorites. The success of their business reminds June that Lucky Cat wasn’t just about giving luck, it was about giving their best always.

I really enjoyed reading this with my kids. The illustrations were wonderful, the story itself was great and I really liked the message it sends. A great read for kids.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

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This story is so full of love and heart. Lucky Cat tries to help a family start a new business but always messes up. Through the trials, we learn that family and love are the most important things in life. The illustrations are so fun and vibrant. I've already pre-ordered this for my 4 year old!

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