Lucky Cat - Melody Cheng, Janet Wang, Helen Wu

Author: Melody Cheng, Janet Wang, Helen Wu

Illustrator: Eunice Chen

Genre: Picture Book

Rating: 3 stars.

A sweet story about a family trying to make a fresh start in a new location. Mixed feelings on this book, though it is quite nice in its intent.

Mama, Baba and June “have a new home” and they are planning to open a sushi restaurant. In their new premises, they spot a ‘Lucky Cat’ statue, and the parents are convinced it will bring them good luck. June is the only disbeliever. However, when Lucky Cat comes to life at night, June becomes excited and wonders if her parents were right. The next few months, however, dash all their hopes. Not just the sushi business, but many other businesses they begin all get closed soon. Finally, June hits upon what business they should actually try, and she knows that they can’t count on luck but need to work hard. Will this new venture succeed as per their dreams?

In many ways this is a good story. While the blurb specifies that the family has newly shifted to America; there are some “photographs” at the start (before the story begins) to show the family’s airplane journey; and the ‘bao’ and ‘lucky cat’ references make it clear that they are of Chinese origin, the content itself doesn’t set any such restrictions. Thus when it says that they “have a new home”, they could have been from anywhere. This story thus can work not just for immigrant experiences but for anyone in a new location. Moreover, the family is always together, and work with a smile towards their dreams. They never shy away from hard work, even though the lesson about valuing work over luck comes only towards the end. The representation isn’t stereotypical at all, probably because it is an #OwnVoices work.

However, there are many gaps in logic. I know it is just a picture book but there’s a limit to how much can be left unsaid. Why does a Chinese immigrant family want to set up a sushi restaurant, which is a Japanese dish? How old is June? Why does she have to shoulder such a great deal of the workload, including kitchen work in the restaurant? Why does she not go to school? If the sushi restaurant was to open the next day, why was it not dusted and readied up until even the previous night, when June and Lucky Cat begin setting it up for business? How did an immigrant family have so much of funds to set up business after business without ever going to the bank or having any major financial worries? It’s not like the businesses were similar; the set-up changed every time!

The illustrations too left me with a medley of feelings. They do appear picture perfect because of the sketching style and bright pastel colours. Lucky Cat was the best, portrayed in white with a wonderful glow around it. However, they seem inaccurate at times. For instance, the family members never wore hair nets or aprons when they worked in the kitchen of their sushi restaurant. The illustrations also seemed like stock images at times because the three characters wear the same clothes over the months the story talks place in, and many pagers depict the parents with the same facial expressions as on another page.

Overall, there is a lot of beauty in the book, and also a touch of magic through the presence of a Lucky Cat that comes alive. As long as your child isn’t an over-thinker like me, they might still enjoy the book and the message it promotes – hard work always leads to success; luck doesn’t.

(The pessimist in me knows that this isn’t always true. But it’s a children’s picture book, so I’ll just zip my lips on this.)

There are just a few sentences per page, and the text is at a simple level. Beginner readers will find the content manageable. Recommended to little readers aged 3-6.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “Lucky Cat”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.