Guardians of the New Moon: Ming and Miaow’s Great Race and The Year of the Rat are the first two books in an exciting, action-packed and new series steeped in Chinese mythology.
Ming and Miaow’s Great Race
The Jade Emperor is bored but, when he looks into his magical pool, he sees something that gives him an idea that fills him with excitement. He decides to invite the animals of Earth to compete in a race where there will only be 12 winners with each winner having a lunar year named after them as a prize.
Meanwhile, temple cat Miaow is enjoying life as a guardian, frightening away intruders and getting rid of rats. Just as he finally has a pesky rat, Su, in his paws, they are interrupted by a visit from the Chief Consul to the Jade Emperor who tells them that they have both been selected to take part in the Great Race.
After agreeing to the offer, they find themselves at the start of the race alongside other animals taking part including Ming, a nine-tailed fox. Whilst Ming is gregarious and eager to make friends, Miaow prefers being on his own, finding it difficult to make friends. But when Ming helps him during the race, Miaow begins to realise that having a friend may be just what he needs during the race … especially as someone is intent on sabotaging his chances of finishing the race.
And so begins a wonderfully exciting, action packed adventure as the animals compete in a race through forest, mountain and river to be one of the fortunate twelve to reach the finish line. I really enjoyed the trickery and danger as events in the race heat up which made this a wonderfully fun and engaging read.
A wonderful friendship develops between Miaow and Ming who are polar opposites. Miaow is much more of a loner with a reserved, thoughtful nature whilst Ming is much more sociable with a more fiery, impetuous temperament. Together, they balance and complement each other and make a great team.
The Year of the Rat
Impressed by Ming and Miaow’s resourcefulness and kindness, the Jade Emperor has appointed them as Guardians of the Moon, responsible for ensuring that the Year of the Rat goes perfectly. Their first mission is to take the winner of the Great Race home to prepare for the inaugural Year of the Rat celebrations.
Unfortunately for Miaow, this means spending lots of time with the winner of the Great Race, Su, whose trickery and sharp sense of humour has not endeared the rat to him. As soon as they arrive back at their old home, the temple, there is instant animosity between them which leads to disaster when they incur the wrath of Mazu, goddess of the sea.
And so begins another exciting, fast-paced and humorous adventure as the Guardians are faced with trying to contain the chaos caused by water spirits and whale demons whilst trying to keep the truth from the Grand Consul. Can natural enemies, rat and cat, learn to put their differences aside and work together to save the Year of the Rat? Can what they learn about each other build empathy and allow them to finally develop a genuine friendship?
It was wonderful to be back with Miaow and Ming who have now developed a firm, supportive friendship. Both are determined to do all that they can to save the first Year of the Rat. I also really liked that, through shared empathy, Miaow and Su learn to appreciate each others’ strengths and weaknesses so that the door opens for a genuine friendship to develop.
The full-and-partial-page illustrations in both books are wonderfully energetic and expressive and complement the narrative perfectly.
A wonderfully exciting, action-packed new adventure series for readers of 7+ who I have no doubt will enjoy meeting the Guardians as they venture with the animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Thank you to Little Tiger for providing me with copies of these books in exchange for my honest opinion.
Book Craic 