More on walls

Margy Burns Knight (author)
Anne Sibley O'Brien (illustrator)
Talking Walls: The Stories Continue
Tilbury, 1996

Margy Burns Knight adds vignettes about fourteen additional walls around the world to our expanding understanding of human societies and their built environments. East and Southeast Asia are represented by Tibetan prayer wheels built into temple walls, the walls of Wat Po in Bangkok, and "Dog Wall" in Shibuya train station, honoring the loyal Hachiko. Additional interest for Asian-Americans is found in the discussion of the barrack walls at Angel Island, where Chinese immigrants were detained in the early 20th century. As in her earlier book. Knight tackles tough topics of social justice, religious difference, and freedom.

Happiest Birthday Book

Chihiro Nakagawa (author)

Junji Koyose (illustrator)

Who Made This Cake?

Front Street, 2007

There is nothing obviously East Asian about this book, still, the precision and attention to detail reminds me of Japanese style. It is the same kind of care and engineering that goes into, say, miniature sushi pencil erasers or Tomica toy cars (my favorite is the Yamazaki bread truck). Junji Koyose's lilliputian workers creatively control a variety of construction vehicles and heavy machinery to crack eggs, mix batter, spray and smooth frosting, and lift strawberries into place. The result: the perfect birthday cake made with child-like imagination. This is, hands-down, my favorite birthday book. 

Dream on

Jenny Hom (author)
Julia Kuo (illustrator)
Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream
Little, Brown, 2011

Third-grader Clara Lee lives in an idealized American small town, which celebrates autumn with the rather spring-sounding Apple Blossom Festival. The improbable name, with its implications of a beautiful and flourishing atmosphere, suits the story. Drawing courage from her grandfather and his auspicious dream interpretation, Clara Lee determines to rise to new challenges, from climbing the rope in P.E. class to competing for Little Miss Apple Pie. Her major competitor is Dionne, a descendant a founding father of their town. Dionne claims to be as American as apple pie, making Clara Lee uneasy about her Korean heritage and doubt her status as an American. The lesson of Jenny Hom's book comes as no surprise: what counts is an individual's integrity. A good friend must apologize when in the wrong; Little Miss Apple Pie must represent core American values. American myth-making lives on.

Tending the fire

Linda Sue Park (author)

Julie Downing (illustrator)

The Firekeeper's Son

Clarion, 2004

When Sang-hee's father injures his ankle, Sang-hee must assume responsibility for lighting the signal fire atop the mountain near his village. Imagining how exciting it might be to meet soldiers, Sang-hee hesitates. When he makes the right choice, he is rewarding with fiery visions of flaming warriors, as well as his father's pride. Linda Sue Park's story, based on pre-modern Korean defense system, invites children to imagine another time and place, and to confront an ethical choice. I don't know whether Sang-hee's clay figurines are based on Korean precedents, but Julie Downing's inclusion of these charming toys in her illustrations effectively engaged my kindergartener.

Sushi chef's story

Lynne Barasch
Hiromi's Hands
Lee & Low, 2007

Lynne Barasch tells the true story of Hiromi Suzuki (a chef in a Japanese restaurant in New York City), who learns from her father how to select fish, scrub floors, prepare rice, and roll outstanding sushi. Along the way, Barasch compares the patriarchal norms of the traditional Japanese society in which Hiromi's parents, Akira and Kaoru grew up, to the possibilities that characterize the more contemporary America to which they immigrated. At times, Barasch tells more than she shows, but the story can inspire girls to challenge norms that would exclude them. The book closes with an illustrated dictionary of select sushi, a photograph of the real Hiromi, and a glossary with pronunciation.

Xanadu redux

Kathleen Krull (author)
Robert Byrd (illustrator)
Kubla Khan: The Emperor of Everything
Viking, 2010

New biographies of Marco Polo seem to come out yearly; by contrast, books about the emperor he visited, Khubilai Khan, are far fewer in the English language. So, I was quite hopeful when I stumbled on this one. I was disappointed, however, in both the text, which drew more inspiration from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem than from modern scholarship, and the illustrations, which were likewise rather fantastic concoctions. These aspects of the book can be substantiated in the notes, which feature Coleridge and claim erroneously that "no definitive likeness of Kubla Khan exists." Below, I add the well-known painting (probably a preparatory work for a tapestry) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection, executed by court painters during the emperor's lifetime, along with that of his consort, Chabi. I did appreciate, however, Kathleen Krull's attention to the substantial power and influence of Mongol women such as Khubilai's mother and Chabi.

Key to happiness

Phillis Gershator (author)
Holly Meade (illustrator)
Sky Sweeper
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007

Takeboki is the Flower Keeper at a Japanese Buddhist temple. From youth to old age, throughout the seasons, he joyfully cares for the garden. Holly Meade's pictures are enchanting, the next best thing to being in a garden oneself. Phillis Gershator's tale is gentle, and interestingly open to interpretation. Sometimes, I wonder if Takeboki's example sends the wrong message, encouraging acceptance of hierarchy and inequality. But other times, I am persuaded that Takeboki makes a profoundly wise choice.