2014: The Year of the Horse
Happy New Year! Kung Hei Fat Choy 恭喜發財! According to the lunar calendar, the new moon on Friday January 31, 2014, marks the Year of the Horse. To celebrate the Year of the Horse, here is a selection of Toronto Public Library resources related to Chinese New Year and to the animal of the year: the Horse!
- You can learn all about Chinese New Year in books for both children and adults
- Did you know you can'take free lessons in Mandarin Chinese through the Library? Connect to the Mango Language Learning online database – you just need your library card and an e-mail account to get started.
- Or, if you're already fluent in Mandarin, consider joining the Mandarin Book Club at the Albert Campbell branch.
The Horse is the seventh animal in a cycle of 12 animals in Chinese astrology. Discover the legend of how each animal came to be a part of the zodiac in these books for young readers:
The Horse is beautiful, powerful, wild, and free. Those born in the Year of the Horse – 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 and so on in 12-year recurrences – may share these characteristics.
Learn more about Chinese astrology and your animal sign, and find out what the Year of the Horse has in store for you:
Just as each year in the 12-year cycle is associated with an animal, each animal is associated with one of five recurring elements: Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. 2014 is the Year of the Wood Horse.
Read about the lives of notable people born in the Year of the Wood Horse:
- The library has lots of books about horses for adults, teens, and for children.
- You can also borrow a DVD about horses.
- Did you know: the expression "straight from the horse's mouth" comes from the fact that the best way to figure out the age of a horse is to examine its teeth? Connect to the e-book Horse to learn more fun facts about horses.
- Have you ever wanted to learn how to ride a horse? We've got books on that too!
Humans and horses have been companions for thousands of years, all around the world, and the horse features prominently in the folklore of many cultures. Read about horses of myth, legend, and lore:
Humans also have a long history of hitching their hopes to horses in sport. Read about the allure of the track in these books about race horses and horse racing:
A perennial favourite literary horse is Black Beauty. Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse tells the story of the cruelty and kindness experienced by one horse throughout his lifetime. The novel was originally published in 1877 and has since become a children's classic and an animal rights manifesto.
Here are some other wonderful books with horses at their heart:
Happy Year of the Horse everybody!
Patti Smith Group – Horses – 1976 by thegirlstheyrock
Related blog post: 2013: The Year of the Snake
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