春夏秋冬 · Seasons — Little NiHao Sprout YCT 1 Book

About this book

A child watches the same backyard change across the four seasons — blossoms in spring, swimming in summer, leaves falling in autumn, snow in winter. The story introduces weather, nature, and seasonal clothing characters in short, repeated sentences.

一个小朋友观察同一个院子四季的变化——春天的花、夏天的游泳、秋天的落叶、冬天的雪。故事用简短重复的句子介绍了天气、自然和季节衣物相关的汉字。

Vocabulary preview

Nature, weather, clothing (自然、天气、衣物). Eight sample characters from the book with pinyin and English. The full book has 30-150 unique characters total.

Character	Pinyin	English
春	chūn	spring
夏	xià	summer
秋	qiū	autumn
冬	dōng	winter
花	huā	flower
雪	xuě	snow
衣服	yīfu	clothes
热	rè	hot
冷	lěng	cold

How to read this book with your child

Day 1 — Pictures first. Read the English translation and look at the illustrations together. Let your child notice what is happening in the story.
Day 2 — Read with pinyin. Read the Mandarin aloud, using the pinyin as your guide. Point to each character as you read.
Day 3 — Pick three words. Choose three characters from the vocabulary preview and use them in real life during the day.
Day 4 — Point and listen. Let your child point to the matching picture as you read each sentence.
Day 5 — Repeat one phrase. Ask your child to repeat one short phrase from the book after you.
Day 6 — Full read-aloud. Read the full story in Mandarin with pinyin, end to end, without stopping.
Day 7 — Retell. Ask your child to retell the story from the pictures. Any mix of Mandarin and English is fine.

For the full routine across all Little NiHao books, see the parent guide.

Parent questions

What age is this book for?

Seasons is a Sprout level book for ages 4-5. The seasonal theme works especially well for families who want to connect Mandarin vocabulary to the child's lived experience outdoors.

How many characters will my child learn?

Seasons introduces about 30-80 unique characters over 28 pages, focused on weather, nature, and clothing vocabulary. Each character appears multiple times in context.

Does this book align to a specific language standard?

Seasons aligns to YCT 1 (Youth Chinese Test level 1) vocabulary scope. Little NiHao is independent and not affiliated with Chinese Testing International.

Can I use this book to teach about the seasons in English too?

Yes. The bilingual format lets you talk about seasons in English, point to the Chinese characters, and use the pinyin as a bridge. Many parents use it as a bilingual seasonal unit study.