Grandfather's Journey: A Caldecott Award Winner

This is a lovely book. The story is not really engaging. It is kind of two versions of the same story--the grandfather's story, and the grandson's parallel story. It is kind of sweet and heartwarming.

I was curious about GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY because our local library had several copies on the shelf, and I always enjoy discovering what makes a book an award winner. Mr. Say's book won the 1994 Caldecott Medal, the same year Lois Lowry received the Newbery for her book, THE GIVER. It's an understatement to say this is one of the most beautiful children's books ever written. Mr. Say gently describes his grandfather's youthful journey from Japan to America. On his three-week steamship voyage, he is astonished by the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. After embarking, he explores by train the western landscapes of enormous rock formations and endless farm fields. During his travels, he meets people of different color, certainly a new sight for him. Say writes, "The more he traveled, the more he longed to see new places..." Eventually, his grandfather settles along the coast of California after briefly returning to Japan to marry his childhood sweetheart. The couple have a daughter, whom we later learn is Say's mother, the subject of another stunning picture book, TEA WITH MILK. In time, the grandfather begins to miss Japan, and he decides to return to his homeland, along with his wife and grown daughter. Say's watercolor artistry is fantastic, as his skilled brush gracefully ages each character in the book. As a parent, I imagined my own children growing up, and realized how brief is the time we call childhood. The story continues, with the grandfather's heart truly in two places, America and Japan. Anyone who has ever traveled abroad can relate to this experience. As I read his book, I wept, because I too have lived in Japan, and part of my heart will always remain overseas. Since this initial reading, I've bought several of Say's picture books, and they have become family favorites. The greatest literature reaches beyond its pages and connects to the hearts of its readers. Through his timeless words and portraits, Allen Say has clearly accomplished this task. --Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester

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.

Grandfather's Journey was my introduction to one of my very favorite authors and illustrators, Allen Say. This magnificently written & beautifully painted book is a masterpiece and a wonderful tribute to Allen's grandfather and progenitors. That anyone would rate this anything but a 5 prompted me to write this review. As a schoolteacher on a very limited budget, I only buy hardback books that I consider exquisite. This was a definite MUST HAVE after I read and re-read it. As a family member, it gives me ideas on how to write my family history. As a school teacher, it provides the perfect example for my students of how they, too, might capture their family's heritage. Definitely a 5!!

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!

Allen Say's book is a sensitive and poignant story of a Japanese man who came to explore America around the turn of the century. Enraptured by the beauty of the country, he brings his bride to California and proceeds to build his life there. At times, however, he grows wistful for his homeland and longs to return. Finally, the desire to return to to his homeland overcomes him and he goes back to the small village where he was born. The years pass, his children grow up and have children, and he begins to long for the beauty of his second home, so he plans a trip. A war errupts, however, and he is never able to revisit the United States. Beautifully illustrated and sensitively told, Grandfather's Journey demonstrates the strong emotions evoked by one man's love for two countries and two cultures. The story also demonstrates that it is possible to love two countries equally well and to discover taht as soon as you are in one, you long for the other. The book also presents a refreshing retelling of Japanese-American relations. The book raises an awareness of the immigrant experience in a tone that is both simple and subtle.