Grandfather's Journey

Grandfather’s Journey. Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. 32 pages. $16.95 (Hardcover). ISBN 0-395-57035-2. Grades K-3.

My Thoughts…

I have mixed feelings about Grandfather’s Journey. This book was the recipient of the 1994 Caldecott Medal, placed on multiple ‘Best Books’ lists, and has been given numerous positive, even starred reviews. The book is beautifully written and the simple language and writing style is perfect for its target audience. The illustrations are marvelous; lifelike, picturesque, beautiful, almost like photographs; so I have no qualms there. I even love the overall message and theme of having multiple homes, loves, and identities. The closing line “The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other” is fantastic, catchy, and resonating. I think this is an idea that many readers will be able to relate to.  I understand why this is a fantastic book and would never not recommend it or not use it in a program, but I just wasn’t wowed by it. I hope that my ability to recognize its strengths and still not hold a fondness for it doesn’t make me a poor reader/librarian/etc. because I would never want to discourage the reading of this item because I didn’t love it. That would be depriving readers of a great 

book.

I guess I should explain why I didn’t fall in love with this book. I felt that the story moved slowly and was too simple. This, however, is one reason that it is so great for the target audience and not me. I think that the simple text aligns perfectly with the illustrations and the word choice and description of actions and feeling makes it perfect for a story time/read aloud. I thought this story was too simple and boring; but then again it is for a younger audience. Too much detail would be overwhelming and muddle the message in the first place. For example, I read the chapter by Zia about Asians’ experiences in the United States from the mid 1800s on until after World War II. The mistreatment and racism was severe, and I wondered how Say’s grandfather could have had such a positive, comfortable experience in the United States amidst all of that. I think I have started looking for mistreatment in Asian American literature because now I know it existed and when I don’t see it I think people are sugar coating things. This of course, is probably not the case and I have just become too absorbed with that idea. As I write out these things I see this and feel that Grandfather’s Journey isn’t omitting facts to the detriment of the reader or the story, but because he is sharing an aspect of his life has he has learned it/experienced it. The more I think about this book the more I begin to respect and life it. I guess I just needed to think on it and vent a little before I could see exactly what I had in front of me.