A Place to Grow

Moving back and forth deftly between an American garden to scenes in the author's native Korea, this picture book tells the story of how one family finds a new place to thrive in America. Five full-spread illustrations take us back to a more dangerous and sorrowful time, when this family experienced violence, lack of opportunity, unemployment, and disruption. With a turn of the page, though, we return to the warmth and safety of a Father's love and a growing garden. Using a few, well-chosen metaphors, Soyung Pak's words and Marcelino Truong's paintings will help young children grasp the concept of being transplanted so that you can grow. The author and illustrator team also manage to express the mixed emotions of a young immigrant's life -- poignant farewells, hopeful fresh starts, strong family ties, and insecurity about the future.

I disagree with the PW review of Pak's latest book, A Place to Grow. The reviewer suggests that the majority of children cannot understand the political undertones of immigration. I tend to think that the thousands of children who arrive in this country as they and their families flee political and economic persecution might disagree with such a blanket statement. As a 5th grade teacher, I rely on all types of books, including many picture books, to illustrate important social, economic, and political aspects of the world. Pak uses images familar to many children (a seed and garden) to explain why her family came to this country from South Korea. While it's true that young children would have trouble understanding the political overtones of this book on their own, it doesn't mean these issues can't be shared and explained. Older children (8,9,10 and up) are quite capable of pulling meaning from a story like Pak's, and connect the issues it raises to their own lives and the larger world. A Place To Grow tells an important and very real story.