BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1993. Illustrated by Allen Say. Grandfather’s Journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN:0395570352
PLOT SUMMARY
Readers follow Allen Say’s grandfather’s first visit to North America as a young man. He dresses as a Westerner for the first time, crosses the Pacific Ocean and is amazed by the varied scenery and geology of the New World. He settles in California for a few years until homesickness makes him return to Japan, where he marries. Say’s grandparents and mother live in the San Francisco Bay until her teenage years, after which they settle in Japan again. After World War II, his grandparent’s city home is destroyed so they move back into the country, where his grandfather dies before making another trip to California. Born and raised in Japan until he is “almost grown,” Say makes the same trip as his grandfather to the United States and sees California for himself. Say is a lot like his grandfather, missing one home when he is in another, and he finally understands his grandfather’s longing.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
1994 Caldecott Winner, Grandfather’s Journey is a terse biography of one sentence and one photo per page that demonstrates artistic mastery and still contains cultural relevance today.
Made up of portraits and landscapes, words and photos complement each other seamlessly to introduce us to Grandfather and his cross-cultural journey. Say’s knowledge of both American and Japanese landscapes and culture is evident in his watercolor spreads. He captures the natural light in his scenescapes dutifully: sunny prairies, smoggy cities, the expansive greenery of Japan. His portraits portray his family in their best clothing, their facial features obviously Japanese without resorting to insensitive stereotypes.
Despite growing up in rural Japan, Grandfather has the money to buy a steamship ticket to America and explore the New World as a bachelor. Once there, he travels “by train and riverboat, and often walked for days on end,” (7) which means he is not wealthy by any means. Say, however, focuses his artwork and narrative on the captivating scenery, both natural and industrial, rather than his Grandfather’s economic struggle in the United States. Socially, Grandfather appeared to be a friendly and likeable man, as the spread on page 12 confirms: “He shook hands with black men and white men with yellow men and red men.” On page 21 he socializes with a group of Japanese friends.
Say’s narrative celebrates cross-cultural links. Grandfather’s cross-cultural experience is subtle but still evident in Say’s illustrations. Unlike many immigrants who are prompted or forced to leave their home countries due to poor living conditions or political turmoil, Grandfather choses to come to North America in an exploring expedition. He leaves Japan with the mentality that the culture will be different and acts accordingly, dressing up in Western clothes from when embarking on his journey. However, it is interesting to note the perspective of Grandfather in America. In the spread where Grandfather poses next to Americans, his stature is the shortest of the crew. He is swallowed up in his “European clothes,” a miniature figure next to towering canyons, a bit hunched from the cold passing a factory. Whereas in Japan, in his home in California, next to his wife and daughter, he seems confident and tall. Perhaps his grandfather was not a target of discrimination, but he definitely felt a bit different in each country, in public, and in private.
Say’s respect and love for his Grandfather is evident in this biography, the care he took into crafting each portrait, and capturing the wonder and camaraderie Grandfather experienced in each country. He admits and concludes: “I miss him very much.” This last sentiment and the overall existence of Grandfather’s Journey as a commercial picture book was likely difficult for Say to put to paper, as Japanese culture favors that feelings and family history be kept private. The Says are not rigid to tradition, however. Readers sense Grandfather’s calm, flexible demeanor from his portraits. Except for the spread where his wife is portrayed walking behind him (28), she is portrayed next to him in portraits as his equal. Instead of seeking his own convenience, Grandfather is considerate of his Americanized teenage daughter and moves his family to a city in Japan rather than staying in his beloved rural hometown. The fact that Say enjoyed visiting him growing up and his relaxed posture in the portrait with him as a little boy (24) demonstrate Grandpa likely played and was later actively involved in his grandchildren’s lives. As Japan and the United States were enemies during World War II, Grandpa was unable to visit his California home likely due to political discrimination. With Japan’s reputation of favoring a homogenous society and their blatant racism during WWII, Grandfather’s Journey attests to a Japanese individual’s love for two countries at war. Grandpa is unable to disassociate or resist cultural influences from either one. His stopping from keeping songbirds demonstrates his heartache at being unable to return to his home across the pacific.
Grandfather’s Journey serves as a photo album and preserves the Say family history, but its beauty can be appreciated universally. Every country has its unique culture and natural markers to contribute to the world. Say assures individuals that it is okay to embrace cultures outside their own, and to love them equally, if for different reasons.
AWARDS
2020 125 Books We Love for Kids
2019 Indies Choice Picture Book Hall of Fame, Finalist, Picture Book
2015 & 2013, 100 Best Book Lists
2013 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award, Platinum, Book
1994 Randolph Caldecott Medal, Winner
1994 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature, Winner, Illustration
1994 Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award, Winner, Children’s Literature
1993 California Book Awards, Winner
1993 National Association of Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA), Winner
1993 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year, Winner
1993 Reading Magic Award, Winner
REVIEW EXCERPTS
From WOW, 2008: “Allen Say delivers an authentic, three-generational account of his family’s cross-cultural experience through broad colors of illustration and writing. Both as the author and illustrator, Say connects the setting and characters to real people and places in time. The story is not only a personal collection of his family timeline, but a love of two countries.”
From AudioFile, 2009: “Music and sound effects underscore the story and move the listener from one panoramic scene to the next. An interview with author Say himself is included. It’s always a treat to hear the creator’s voice and to gain insight into his life and work. Subsequent listening to the story brings greater appreciation.”
From Bulletin, 1993: “…the paintings are precise, cool portraits and views that fix recollections into images, and the book as a whole is an album where both a picture of a family standing amidst war’s devastation and a romantic pastorale of courting lovers find their place in memory…Highly recommended as a book of special distinction.”
CONNECTIONS
Listen to the audiobook version, narrated by Allen Say, or watch the DVD version, narrated by B.D. Wong through hoopladigital.com
For older readers: Read Say’s autobiographies Drawing from Memory, 2011. and The Inker’s Shadow, 2015.
For younger readers: Eyes That Kiss in the Corners. 2021. Starred reviewed and added to state and recommended reading lists, this story celebrates intergenerational bonds.
Read Drawn Together by Minh Lê and its accompanying connections.
Biblioterika 