Rainbow Panda and the Firecracker Fiasco is a cute and colorful introduction to Chinese New Year. The concept showing how the more wrong is done the worse it gets is well illustrated.

"Rainbow Panda and the Firecracker Fiasco" is a morals story and while it doesn't hit the reader over the head to make a point, neither is it subtle. It is more subtle imparting information about the Asian New Year and the mythology surrounding Asian dragons, which are different from European dragons (dragons play a part in the story). The writing wasn't great, it was a little pedantic, and the story was overly long for what it was trying to say. It was predictable for adults, moderately interesting for children.

Actually, only half the book is the story; the latter half is an excellent glossary of terms used in the story, and placing them where they belong in different Asian cultures. I learned some things from the glossary and found it more interesting than the story itself. The island where this story and series are set, Fujimini Island, is fictional and is a blend of Korean, Chinese and Japanese customs. The writing was more relaxed and I found it more enjoyable. If I were to use this book in my classroom, I would greatly edit and condense the story and focus on the glossary. The kids would appreciate the artwork and the cheerful, completely unrealistic colors of the animals.