Tết Books for Vietnamese American Kids (Plus Personalized Options)

Tết — Vietnamese Lunar New Year — is the single most important holiday of the Vietnamese calendar. It’s bigger than Christmas, bigger than any birthday, bigger than the American Thanksgiving. For Vietnamese American families, it’s the annual event around which the whole cultural year is organized.

Yet finding good Tết children’s books in the US is surprisingly difficult. Here’s a curated list of the best ones, plus how to make a personalized Tết book starring your own child.

What Tết is

Tết Nguyên Đán — “first morning of the first day” — falls on the same date as Chinese Lunar New Year (the first new moon between late January and mid-February). Key traditions:

Bánh chưng and bánh dày — square and round sticky rice cakes representing earth and sky
Cleaning the house thoroughly before the new year arrives
Wearing new clothes (often áo dài) on New Year’s Day
Visiting the first guest’s house (xông đất) — the first person to enter your home sets the tone for the year
Lì xì — red envelopes with money for children
Peach blossom branches (north) or yellow mai flowers (south) as decorations
Ancestral altars with offerings for deceased relatives

Best Tết books for kids

Ages 2–4

Happy New Year, Everywhere! by Arlene Erlbach — includes Tết among other global new years
New Clothes for New Year’s Day by Hyun-joo Bae — technically Korean but the theme of new clothes for the new year translates
Chicken in the Kitchen by Nnedi Okorafor — not Tết but a similar-flavored holiday story

Ages 4–6

Ten Mice for Tết! by Pegi Deitz Shea — a counting book rooted in Tết traditions
Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin — Chinese-focused but adjacent
Tết: A Vietnamese New Year Story by various authors
The Last Firefly by Jennifer Lee Pohlig — Vietnamese-adjacent quiet story

Ages 6–8

Fiona’s Lace — Vietnamese American immigration narrative
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (older end) — Newbery Honor. Verse novel about a Vietnamese girl’s immigration to the US.

Ages 8–10

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai — a Vietnamese American girl visits Vietnam. Rich cultural texture.
Something About America by Maria Testa — a Vietnamese refugee story in verse

The scarcity problem

Vietnamese American families face a real representational gap: there just aren’t enough Tết-focused children’s picture books for the size of the community. Compared to Chinese Lunar New Year books (which have dozens of quality options), Vietnamese Tết books are scarce.

This is partly why personalized books have become so valuable for Vietnamese American families. Instead of waiting for mainstream publishing to catch up, you can make a Tết book starring your own kid today.

The personalized Tết book

At Akoni Books, our “The Year of New Beginnings” theme is a personalized Tết celebration story. Your child is illustrated as the hero — wearing áo dài, preparing bánh chưng with family, receiving lì xì from grandparents, welcoming the new year. Nine art styles available. Digital in 5 minutes, printed in 5–10 business days.

Create a personalized Tết book starring your child →

Tết activities with kids

Clean the house together. Before Tết, Vietnamese families clean thoroughly to sweep out last year’s bad luck. Kids can help (even badly). Make it a family activity.

Wrap bánh chưng together. Full bánh chưng is a multi-day project; simplified versions can be done in an afternoon. The wrapping is the kid-friendly part.

Dress up in áo dài. New clothes on Tết morning are traditional. If your family doesn’t have traditional clothes, this is the year to get them.

Visit the first guest’s house. Plan who you’ll visit first. Teach kids why this matters.

Give lì xì to kids in the family. Teach your kids both the receiving and the eventual giving.

Visit relatives’ graves. Many Vietnamese families do this in the days before Tết. For kids, it’s a meaningful intro to ancestor honoring.

Language embedded in Tết

Tết is an excellent opportunity to deepen your kid’s Vietnamese vocabulary:

Chúc mừng năm mới — Happy New Year
An khang thịnh vượng — peace, health, and prosperity
Vạn sự như ý — may all things go as wished
Lì xì — red envelope
Bánh chưng / bánh dày — sticky rice cakes

Teach your kid three phrases this year. Add three more next year. Ten years of Tết means 30 Vietnamese phrases that stick.

A tradition worth anchoring

Vietnamese Tết is the one reliable moment each year to pull the whole family — including kids — deeply into Vietnamese culture. Use it well.

One new Tết book each year
One new Tết recipe prepared together each year
One video call to grandparents in Vietnam each year
One Tết outfit each year
One family photo at the same spot each year

Ten years of that rhythm produces a teenager who knows Tết in their bones. Starts with one book this year.

Chúc mừng năm mới to your family.