A family trilogy

Allen Say

Tree of Cranes (Houghton Mifflin, 1991)

Grandfather's Journey (Houghton Mifflin, 1993)
Tea with Milk (Houghton Mifflin, 1999)


Some of us are set fast-forward to the future. Others of us wonder about the past. Where did our parents and grandparents come from, we ask. And we use the answers to understand who we are and where we are going. Allen Say shares his family's story in three beautifully illustrated and and somewhat wistful books.
  In Tree of Cranes, Say is a young boy in Japan. His mother, who grew up in the United States, celebrates his return to good health and commemorates her own childhood with a hybrid Christmas tree.
  Grandfather's Journey memorializes the life of Say's grandfather, who may seem acculturated and settled with his family in California, returns to Japan.
  Tea with Milk concerns Say's mother, who is wrenched from the comforts of California when her father brings the family back to Japan. She eventually meets a fellow with unconventional tastes that match her own.
  All of the books speak thoughtfully and gently about the un-ease of being caught between cultures, an increasingly common experience in our post-modern, globally connected world. Say's family seems to have pioneered this path, and he is generous to share its intimacies and beauty with us.

Remembering

Linda Gerdner and Sarah Langford (authors)
Stuart Loughridge (illustrator)
Grandfather's Story Cloth
Shen's Books, 2008

A sensitive and creative boy, Chersheng lives with his brother, parents, and grandfather in the United States. His aging grandfather is afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, and Chersheng must cope with Grandfather's unpredictable forgetfulness. When Grandfather gathers wood for a fire or leaves the bathroom faucet running, it isn't so bad. But, one night, Grandfather forgets who Chersheng is. To comfort him, Chersheng's mother shows him a story cloth that Grandfather made after the family along with other Hmong people fled Laos and lived in a refugee camp in Thailand. The story cloth gives Chersheng a way to connect with his grandfather, and it inspires him to create new artwork connecting grandfather's story to his own.

Wish upon a Tree

Roseanne Thong (author)
Connie McLennan (illustrator)
The Wishing Tree
Shen's Books, 2004

Ming and his grandmother share a ritual, making a wish at the village's wishing tree, which blooms with brightly colored wishes tied to orange weights. As Ming grows up, we see the arc of his wishes shift from focusing on himself (growing big and strong) to concern for loved ones (a speedy recovery from illness for Grandmother). When the wishing tree disappoints him, Ming feels resentment. But, as he matures, he sees differently and returns to express gratitude to the tree. Roseanne Thong's story is based on a real wishing tree in Hong Kong.

Adoption stories

Janet Morgan Stoeke
Waiting for May
Dutton, 2005

Jean Davies Okimoto and Elaine M. Aoki (authors)
Meilo So (illustrator)
The White Swan Express: A Story about Adoption
Clarion, 2002

Janet Morgan Stoeke's story of adopting a Chinese girl is told from the point of view of a soon-to-be big brother. The boy's voice is yearning, patient, eager, and gentle. He is also inquisitive, asking his mother all sorts of questions about the adoption process, and he wonders about whether his sister is well cared for. His mother's answers are optimistic and thoughtful. Stoeke emphasizes the capacity to love someone you haven't yet met.

Jean Davies Okimoto and Elaine M. Aoki take a different approach. They simultaneously tell the stories of four Chinese girl orphans and the North Americans who will be adopting them. Apart from the joy experienced by all the characters, the authors pay special attention to diversity. Lewis and Beth Maynard are from Miami; Andrea Lee and Charlotte Appleford live on an island near Seattle; Rebecca Mandel hails from the midwest where she lives with her cat, Ralph; and Howard and Jessica Suzuki call Toronto home. The parents meet aboard the bus dubbed "White Swan Express," which takes them to the hotel where they are to meet their daughters, Wu Li, Li Shen, Qian Ye, and Chun Mei Ni. The families continue to correspond, celebrating their familial good fortune.

Not having experienced an adoption, I am unable to comment on the accuracy of these stories, whether the logistics of adopting or the emotional portions. Both of them were effective in tugging at my heart. I invite readers with more experience to comment.

Mothers' Day

Mitsu and Taro Yashima
Momo's Kitten
Viking, 1961

Some months ago, I posted a review of Umbrella, which reflects on how quickly Momo grows up. In this later book, Momo's Kitten, her family moves from New York City to Los Angeles where she adopts a stray kitten. She names the kitty "Nyan-Nyan." Nyan-Nyan grows very quickly, and her litter of kittens becomes a way to remark delightfully upon how each youngster has its own idiosyncrasy, whether it likes to pull on panda's tongue or sleep in the pigeon cage on the balcony. A sad Momo must give the kittens away eventually, but she finds a creative way to mark that transition with handmade birth certificates. The gentle theme is the cycle of motherhood.

Annyonghi kasipsio

Frances Park and Ginger Park (authors)
Katherine Potter (illustrator)
The Have a Good Day Cafe
Lee and Low, 2005

Grandmother's nostalgia for her Korean past and grandson's optimism for his family's American future converge as they hatch a plan to replace the hot-dog-and-chips fare at the family food cart business with savory Korean cuisine. A cheerful variation on the American dream theme, authors Frances Park and Ginger Park offer a brief glossary of Korean words.

A year to grow

Andrea Cheng (author) and Nicole Wong (illustrator)
Only One Year
Lee and Low, 2010

Here are two things—a word and an image—that made Andrea Cheng's new chapter book about difference, family, and love one of the finest books I have read. The word is "weird," which is loaded with unspoken intimations of fear. She uses the word just once. Uttered by  a child's friend, it clearly polices the boundary between acceptable and dubious. Sharon, invokes her mother's reasoning to defend against the stinging charge, but it's clear that the ideas and emotions behind "weird" are not easily changed. Cheng has me on the alert now for this word. The image is a sliced apple, with some slices placed at one side of a plate opposite the others. Mama tells her children Sharon (4th grade), Mary (1st grade), Di Di (a preschooler), and us that the slices may be far apart but like family in the US and family in China, they make one circle. One circle that nourishes its members, as Di Di gobbles down the apple. The image captures the book's narrative and its themes.

There is much more to recommended Only One Year—from the thoughtful treatment of the difficult decision to send Di Di to live with his grandparents in Shanghai for a year to the recurring images of childhood play that transform everyday objects and activities into opportunities to stretch the imagination and to express love. The book is refreshingly devoid of cynicism and status markers. It challenges us all to overcome our fears and egos, to forgive ourselves and others, and to make meaningful relationships with each other.

For more about author Andrea Cheng, go to her website: http://www.andreacheng.com/home

Change and difference

Sometimes we long for change, but change can be hard. The same goes for difference. And if those are already challenging for us, how do we explain to our children? These three authors treat their child protagonists with compassion, and as each realizes how to accept themselves and others, they give us lessons for becoming better people.

Cooper is coping with his Korean-American identity. It seems to be an impossible situation when his Korean language ability is slim, and yet he is regularly confronted with the loaded question, "What are you?" When the answer, "an American," doesn't satisfy, he must consider whether and to what extent he is Korean. Shame and confusion lead him to act impulsively and wrongly, but in doing so, Peter gets to know the Korean-American grocer who offers Cooper a chance to redeem himself. The bilingual English-Korean edition of Sun Yung Shin's Cooper's Lesson may be especially appealing to multi-generational families.

Kimiko Sakai's Sachiko is young, confused, and a little scared by the effects of Alzheimer's disease on her beloved grandmother. Sachiko remembers and misses the grandmother who was coherent and made her feel safe and loved. Now her grandmother is old, but speaks in a voice that is young, confused, and a little scared. At first, Sachiko reacts with petulance and resentment, leading her grandmother on a ruse. But along the way, she learns that she who is still coherent now has the capacity to make another feel safe and loved. Tomie Arai's illustrations for Sachiko Means Happiness effortlessly capture with equal compassion the complex psychology of the characters.

Our sensitive young narrator of Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding is niece Jenny. A good observer, she is our knowledgeable guide to Chinese wedding rituals and their symbolism. While activities may be quite different from a western-style wedding, emotions are the same. Her family feels joy and anticipation, but Jenny also feels fear as she worries about being displaced by Peter's bride, Stella. But savvy and thoughtful Aunt Stella brings Jenny away from fear and back into the family fold. Yumi Heo's child-like images capture the anxiety and wonder of Jenny's point of view.

Cooper's Lesson

Sun Yung Shin (author) and Kim Cogan (illustrator)

Children's Book Press, 2004

Sachiko Means Happiness

Kimiko Sakai

Chidren's Book Press, 1997

Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding

Lenore Look (author) and Yumi Heo (illustrator)

Atheneum, 2006