- Age Range: 4 - 7 years
- Grade Level: Preschool - 3
- Lexile Measure: 650 (What's this?)
- Paperback: 32 pages
- Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (October 27, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0547076800
- ISBN-13: 978-0547076805
While the text itself is simple, the story is tender and nuanced. Say describes how his grandfather emigrated to the United States and then later returned to his home country of Japan. Whenever the grandfather was in one country, he missed the other country, feeing a sense of belonging to both. Young children may not fully understand the situation described in the book, and the overall emotional feel is a bit sad. That isn't to say that picture books need always to be jolly, and this particular story would resonate with children and grandchildren of migrants, as well as educating children whose families have lived in the United States for many generations on the experience of immigrants and their descendants.
The illustrations in the book are beautiful. They remind me of French Impressionism, such as Claude Monet. This particular illustration in the boat I thought was especially pretty. Grandfather's Journey won the Caldecott Medal in 1994.
My ten year old daughter read this and commented that she liked the flow between the characters and that the book wasn't disjointed in identifying what was happening to whom. She also liked that it didn't feel like an "average children's book". She said the picture book almost felt like a novel and enjoyed that it was more mature. She said she would have enjoyed more detail about the characters and the story. I loved the beautiful illustrations and the lyrical honesty of the text.I would have liked it to have a more uplifting feel. The last page is at once heartwarming and heartwrenching.
What do you think? Have you read Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say? If you did and you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy
Tea with Milk by Allen Say
Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levinson
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