International Impact Book Awards
Children's Education · 2024
Bringing in Tết
A bilingual welcome to Vietnam’s biggest, brightest new year.
Written by Kimly Hoang-Nakata, M.Ed.
Illustrated by Hameo Pham
✨ Tap the envelope for a fortune ✨
An award-winning bilingual celebration of Tết, Vietnam's Lunar New Year. In full English and Vietnamese, with bright, joyful illustrations, children share the moments of preparing for and celebrating this special holiday — and feel closer to their own roots. And because it's written by a teacher, every copy ends with a glossary of key words and essential questions to help guide learning.
English and Tiếng Việt on every page, with true Vietnamese diacritics — both languages equal, never a footnote.
Follow An and her family as they prepare, celebrate with ông bà, and discover what Tết means to Vietnamese families everywhere.
Mai & đào blossoms, lì xì, bánh chưng, the lân dance, kumquat tree, mứt, and Chúc Mừng Năm Mới.
A glossary of key words and essential questions in the back — written by a teacher to guide reading at home and in the classroom.
Read-aloud friendly, classroom-ready, and a meaningful Lunar New Year gift for the whole family.
Hardcover, paperback, and Kindle — 25 pages of bright, joyful illustrations.
The family — and the joyful world of Tết — that fills every page.
Ông bà, parents, and little An — Tết is when everyone comes home.
Luck and joy come dancing right down the street.
The golden flower that means Tết has arrived in the South.
Red envelopes of good fortune for the children.
A little tree heavy with fruit — a wish for a fruitful year.
Wrapped in green leaves — the taste of the new year.
Every spread, in two languages — English and Tiếng Việt side by side.
Scene illustrations inspired by the story — the book's published art is shown on the cover above.
"I'm a teacher first. Every book ends with the resources I'd want in my own classroom — a glossary and essential questions — so the reading doesn't stop when the story does."
A sample from the bilingual glossary in the back of the book.
"When I was a newcomer in the U.S., I didn't have culturally relevant books at school."
Kimly Hoang-Nakata was born in Huế, Vietnam and immigrated to the United States at age nine, keeping her home language and culture close. A teacher, award-winning author, and founder of Achieve Education, she wrote Bringing in Tết to give children the book she never had — and to inspire her own students: "Having their teacher as a published author really got them to lift up their pencils."
Kimly Hoang-Nakata, M.Ed. Teacher · Award-winning bilingual author · IIBA 2025 Author-of-the-Year Finalist
Give your child the story before the blossoms fall — an award-winning, fully bilingual Lunar New Year gift, made to be read aloud and kept for years.
Hardcover, paperback & Kindle — and wherever books are sold.
Bringing in Tết follows a young girl, An, and her family as they prepare for and celebrate Tết, Vietnam's Lunar New Year — sharing the traditions, food, and meaning of the holiday. It is a bilingual (English + Vietnamese) rhyming picture book.
Bringing in Tết won the International Impact Book Awards 2024 (Children’s Education) and First Place at The BookFest Award, Spring 2024 (Children’s Picture Books). It was also featured on SBTN national television.
Yes. Every page is written in both English and Vietnamese, making it a natural fit for bilingual families, dual-language classrooms, and children learning Vietnamese.
Bringing in Tết is written for children ages 4–12. It includes essential questions and a glossary of key Vietnamese vocabulary, so it works for read-alouds at home and for classroom use.
Bringing in Tết is available in hardcover on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Use the buy buttons on this page to go directly to the retailer.
Bringing in Tết was written by Kimly Hoang-Nakata, M.Ed., an award-winning bilingual children’s author and educator, and an International Impact Book Awards 2025 Author of the Year Finalist. It is illustrated by Hameo Pham.
