Relates how the Jade Emperor chose twelve animals to represent the years in his calendar. Also discusses the Chinese calendar, zodiac, the qualities associated with each animal, and what animal rules the year in which the reader was born.
After the Kang brothers get in trouble at school, they devise a way to make paper, which will make things easier for both their teacher and themselves. Includes a historical note and a recipe for home-made paper.
Specific types of celebration of the Chinese New Year are associated with letters of the Roman alphabet, for example, "d" is for dragon dance and "f" is for firecrackers which scare away evil spirits.
Left alone to prepare their family's prize-winning dumplings for the annual cooking contest, the young Kang boys accidentally invent a new dish, "mian tiao," or noodles. Includes a cultural note and a recipe for long life noodles.
When Xiaolong devises a way to capture the thief who breaks into his family's home, all the people in the Chinese village change their minds about the "lazy" boy.
When the ten sons of Di Jun walk across the sky together causing the earth to burn from the blazing heat, their father looks for a way to stop the destruction.