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| image from www.amazon.com |
Summary –
The author recounts the story of his grandfather’s travels as a young man, when he left Japan in a steamship to visit North America. His grandfather traveled all across America in a variety of transportation modes: train, boat, and by foot. He loved seeing new places and longed to travel even more; he met people of all different backgrounds. He finally returned to Japan to marry a wife, and the two of them moved to San Francisco, where they raised a daughter (the author’s mother). Once she was nearly grown, they returned to Japan, where she married and had a little boy (the author as a child). The author remembers his grandfather fondly recounting the beauty of California, land that he loved. Although his grandfather planned to cross the Pacific once more, war came, and scattered their lives like leaves in the wind. Grandfather’s house in the city was destroyed, and he returned to the village where he grew up. Although the grandfather never got a chance to return to his beloved California, the author honored his grandfather’s memory and visited California once he was a young man. He stayed there and raised a daughter of his own, occasionally returning to the rivers and mountains of his youth. He explains how he now understands his grandfather’s longings, always glad to be in one country but homesick for the other country.This is a lovely story about the feelings of an immigrant, in love with both countries he calls home.
Lucien’s thoughts –
This was my favorite book from this week’s readings. I thought the language of the story was very simple and easy to enjoy, and it left plenty of room for the illustrations to show the beauty of the lands where the grandfather traveled. The economy of words is well balance by the gorgeous paintings. The beautiful landscapes and realistic portraits add so much richness to the little story of loving more than one country; I often felt as if the pages came out of his grandfather’s photo albums of the people and places he encountered. The story is also very tender in the way the author remembers little details in his grandfather’s life. For example, he remembers that his grandfather surrounded himself with songbirds, but after the war, he no longer did. The story is very delicate in how it touches on a grandfather’s love for his grandson, and how much the author misses his grandfather, now that he is gone. In general, I found it to be a touching story, without being overtly sugary. It felt simple and real.
Librarian’s use –
One of the themes that is so strong is this book is the bonds of family. The librarian can illustrate a family tree using his or her family, and include photographs, names and birthplaces of their family, then invite the audience to make their own family trees. Children can share where their parents and grandparents were born, or places they have lived in. The book can easily be a springboard into the topic of genealogy.
Another possible avenue of exploration is to ask for volunteers in the community who are of Japanese decent to come and give a brief talk about their culture. Invite the audience to view kimonos, tea kettles, and other artifacts of traditional Japanese life. Invite the children to talk about how their grandparents may have had a different culture growing up than the one they are in (this could include the difference between countries, or perhaps the difference between small town life and city life, among others).
Other reviews –
Buchoff, R. (1995). Family stories. The reading teacher, 49 (3), 230.
In Grandfather's Journey (Say, 1993), a grandson reminisces about his grandfather's love for two different countries. These beautifully illustrated books help children discover that the memory of a deceased family member can often be kept alive through the creation of a story.
Leonard Lamme, L., Fu, D., McKoy Lowery, R. (2004). Immigrants as portrayed in children’s picture books: a journal for readers, students, and teachers of history. The social studies, 95 (3), 123-129.
Feeling lost and homesick is a common experience for many immigrants, whether old or young. Usually it is much harder for school-age children to leave what is familiar or to understand why they have to give up so much and start a new life in a new country. They may wonder, Why did we have to leave our home? ... In the Caldecott-winning book Grandfather's Journey, Allan Say (1993) chronicles the movement of three generations of his family to and from America and Japan. He writes, "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other" (31).
Desai, C. (2004) Weaving words and pictures: Allen Say and the art of illustration. The lion and the unicorn, 28 (3), 408-428.
Alien Say was raised in Japan and immigrated to the US as a young man-thus retracing his grandfather's steps, as he describes in his Caldecott Award winning picture book, Grandfather's Journey (1993). As he encounters the wonder and discovery of the immigrant experience, the story's narrator appreciates his grandfather's complicated cultural identity and his sense of displacement in both worlds… His works show mastery of the cartoonist's command of line, action, and comedy; the Japanese artistic sense of harmony, simplicity, and suggestion; and the Western artist's sense of expansiveness, realism, and color. Say uses these talents to create moods and extend the meaning of the texts in ways appropriate to each work.
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