This is a great introductory book for children to Japanese celebrations, from Oshogatsu (New Year's) to 7-5-3 and everything in between'(including some neither I nor my husband knew about, like Kanbutse, Buddha's Birthday). The illustrations are great, really cute without going overboard (a real possibility in Japan!). This book is aimed at older kids but I think that like mine, those with a background in Japan could understand it from an earlier age as a read-aloud book.
I do have to say, that I was somewhat annoyed at the errors in the Japanese text. The hiragana for monkey and sheep (saru and hitsuji, respectively) were mixed up, and they accidentally translated row (a boat) as fight. I wouldn't use this as a Japanese language introduction for a child. I got this from the library and I don't know if a newer version would have corrections or not.