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Grandfather's Journey (Caldecott Medal Book) (Hardcover)
by Allen Say
| Category:
Autobiography, Picture books, Age 4-8 |
| Market price: ¥ 198.00
MSL price:
¥ 168.00
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Resonant and rich both in illustrations and language, Say's book is a poignant and beautiful tale of immigration experience and love for homeland. |
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Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
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Author: Allen Say
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books; Library Binding edition
Pub. in: October, 1993
ISBN: 0395570352
Pages: 32
Measurements: 11.5 x 9.7 x 0.5 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00355
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0395570357
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Rate this product:
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- Awards & Credential -
Winner of Caldecott Medal. |
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- MSL Picks -
Allen Say has combined his love of family history and his talent for evocative illustration to create this wonderful story to share with your own family! He retells his grandfather's story of immigration, imparting not only the wonder he experiences being in his new country, but also conveying the angst he feels at being away from his land of birth. These feelings are expressed exquisitely in the paintings which bring to mind photograhs of that period in history. In addition, there are many springboard opportunities for discussions. The photographic paintings elicit questions from your children that will begin conversations about methods of travel, different regions of our own country, differences between cultures, and differences between the time that is illustrated and the time we are living in now. A valuable book on so many levels, you will be glad you chose to share this with your children!
(From quoting J. Falcone, USA)
Target readers:
This book works best for kids age 4-8, but is also good for kids of other age groups, including adults for its beautiful story and poignat language.
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- Better with -
Better with
Officer buckle & gloria (Caldecott Medal Book)
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Allen Say was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1937. He dreamed of becoming a cartoonist from the age of six, and, at age twelve, apprenticed himself to his favorite cartoonist, Noro Shinpei. For the next four years, Say learned to draw and paint under the direction of Noro, who has remained Say's mentor. Say illustrated his first children's book - published in 1972 - in a photo studio between shooting assignments. For years, Say continued writing and illustrating children's books on a part-time basis. But in 1987, while illustrating The Boy of The Three-Year Nap (Caldecott Honor Medal), he recaptured the joy he had known as a boy working in his master's studio. It was then that Say decided to make a full commitment to doing what he loves best: writing and illustrating children's books. Since then, he has written and illustrated many books, including Three of Cranes and Grandfather's Journey, winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal. He is a full-time writer and illustrator living in Portland, Oregon.
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From Publisher
Through compelling reminiscences of his grandfather's life in America and Japan, Allen Say gives us a poignant acount of a family's unique cross-cultural experience. He warmly conveys his own love for his two countries, and the strong and constant desire to be in both places at once.
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| View all 6 comments |
Horn Book (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
The immigrant experience has rarely been so poignantly evoked as it is in this direct, lyrical narrative that is able to stir emotions through the sheer simplicity of its telling. |
Publishers Weekly (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
Say transcends the achievements of his Tree of Cranes and A River Dream with this breathtaking picture book, at once a very personal tribute to his grandfather and a distillation of universally shared emotions. Elegantly honed text accompanies large, formally composed paintings to convey Say's family history; the sepia tones and delicately faded colors of the art suggest a much-cherished and carefully preserved family album. A portrait of Say's grandfather opens the book, showing him in traditional Japanese dress, "a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world." Crossing the Pacific on a steamship, he arrives in North America and explores the land by train, by riverboat and on foot. One especially arresting, light-washed painting presents Grandfather in shirtsleeves, vest and tie, holding his suit jacket under his arm as he gazes over a prairie: "The endless farm fields reminded him of the ocean he had crossed." Grandfather discovers that "the more he traveled, the more he longed to see new places," but he nevertheless returns home to marry his childhood sweetheart. He brings her to California, where their daughter is born, but her youth reminds him inexorably of his own, and when she is nearly grown, he takes the family back to Japan. The restlessness endures: the daughter cannot be at home in a Japanese village; he himself cannot forget California. Although war shatters Grandfather's hopes to revisit his second land, years later Say repeats the journey: "I came to love the land my grandfather had loved, and I stayed on and on until I had a daughter of my own." The internal struggle of his grandfather also continues within Say, who writes that he, too, misses the places of his childhood and periodically returns to them. The tranquility of the art and the powerfully controlled prose underscore the profundity of Say's themes, investing the final line with an abiding, aching pathos: "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other." |
E. Bird (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
The pictures throughout this book are striking. Even without having known a thing about it, the cover of this book was familiar to me the minute I picked it up. Though I've only seen it briefly in bookstores and libraries, Say's illustrations do not leave a person's mind readily. Most beautiful, to my mind, are his drawings of his elderly grandfather, as well as the evocative shots of cities and mountains in the United States. Say tackles a subject that I've rarely seen even acknowledged in children's literature. It is the notion of forever being homesick for the other towns and cities you've grown to love in your life. I don't know how well this can be conveyed to children. Quite possibly, kids reading this story will understand what the author is saying on a much smaller level. If a person explains to a kid that it is like missing school/camp/a grandparent's house when one is home and vice versa, it might be comprehensible. This would be an excellent book for reading aloud to large groups. Moreover, it might pair well with other stories of immigrants coming to America. |
Larry Mark (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
Each large page contains a faded color painting of a photo (maybe 7x8 inches) with text beneath, both by Allen Say. Allen tells the story of his grandfather, first shown in traditional Japanese attire, and next traveling by steamship to California in Western garb and bowler hat. On the next pages, we see him travel through America by riverboat, train and foot, meeting various people (red, brown, white and yellow), seeing deserts and oceans of golden amber grain, visiting rural towns and industrial cities filled with factories. Returning to Japan, he marries, and settles in San Francisco to raise a family. year later, they return to Japan, and he helps to raise his grandchild prior to WWII. Allen, the author, grows up and follows in his grandfather's footsteps, coming to America to explore. When in California, he and his grandfather long for Japan; in Japan they long for California. |
View all 6 comments |
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