BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Choi, Yangsook. 2001. The name jar. Ill. Yangsook Choi. Alfred A. Knopf: New York. ISBN 037580613
PLOT SUMMARY: Unhei, a new elementary student from Korea, is unsure of her given name when teased on the bus to school. She decides to “Americanize” her name and let the class help her. The class fill up a jar with slips of papers on which, new American names are written. When the time comes for Unhei to choose her new name, she is decides to keep her own unique given name.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Illustrations done by the author Yangsook Choi include many cultural markers. Skin tone, facial features, hair style and texture are all consistent with the culture. The text contained identification of Unhei’s specific culture, Korean. The red stamp of Unhei’s name in Korean was a powerful textual cultural marker that enhanced the text and as a unique cultural illustration. Names of characters were also cultural markers, both for Unhei and for her classmates. The text was sparse and light. This is a good selection for discussing compassion, empathy and cultural awareness.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “On the way to her first day of school, Unhei is teased by the children on the bus for her Korean name. When she reaches her classroom and is asked her name, she tells her classmates that she has not yet decided on one. To be helpful the children put their suggestions into a "name jar." Eventually the girl decides to keep her own name as one of her classmates takes pride in the new Korean nickname he has chosen, Chinku, meaning "friend." The round, red imprint of the Korean character for Unhei's name provides the graphic manifestation of the story's theme. Attractive golden endpapers feature random repetitions of the stamp imprint interspersed with her classmates' handwritten suggestions on scraps of torn paper. The bold, bright paintings that illustrate the story are realistic, warm, and appealing.”
Review from BOOKLIST: “Unhei has just come with her family from Korea and is starting school. Her name is pronounced Yoon-hye, which means grace, but she feels awkward about it after some teasing on the school bus. She decides to choose an American name, and her classmates oblige her by filling a glass jar with their suggestions. Her mother reminds her that she and her grandmother went to a name master for Unhei's name, and Unhei practices stamping her name with the beautiful name stamp her grandmother gave her. Finally, Unhei decides to keep her own name, and one of her classmates even has a stamp made for himself with the Korean characters for friend. The paintings are mostly in gold and earth tones, and the figures have both stature and simplicity--as does the story.”
Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Unhei has just left her Korean homeland and come to America with her parents. As she rides the school bus toward her first day of school, she remembers the farewell at the airport in Korea and examines the treasured gift her grandmother gave her: a small red pouch containing a wooden block on which Unhei's name is carved. Unhei is ashamed when the children on the bus find her name difficult to pronounce and ridicule it. Lesson learned, she declines to tell her name to anyone else and instead offers, "Um, I haven't picked one yet. But I'll let you know next week." Her classmates write suggested names on slips of paper and place them in a jar. One student, Joey, takes a particular liking to Unhei and sees the beauty in her special stamp. When the day arrives for Unhei to announce her chosen name, she discovers how much Joey has helped. Choi (Earthquake, see below, etc.) draws from her own experience, interweaving several issues into this touching account and delicately addressing the challenges of assimilation. The paintings are done in creamy, earth-tone oils and augment the story nicely.”
CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for discussing cultural awareness and compassion.
*Create Reader’s Theatre script for interactive reading aloud.
* Use to discuss meaning of names of students in a class. Utilize databases to seek name meanings.******************************************************************
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Yep, Laurence. 2002. When the circus came to town. Ill. by Suling Wang. HarperCollins: New York. ISBN 006029325X
PLOT SUMMARY: Ah Sam, a Chinese cook, uses the New Year Celebration to coax a young, ten year old girl out of self-pity due to smallpox scars on her face. Ursula, at first has some bouts of racial distrust of a Chinese cook working in her mother’s stage-coach kitchen, but soon learns to appreciate his open, warm personality.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Based on true historical events, this story is rich in Chinese culture. Illustrations and text contain stereotypical cultural markers of the early 20th century, skin tone, facial features, hair style and body type. Ursula describes her family’s new cook as “a small man with long, slender fingers. His skin was light tan, and his eyes were strange. But his hair was funniest. It was shaved on the crown so his forehead looked real big. In back, though, he wore his hair in a long pigtail. Ma called it his queue.” Ah Sam the Chinese cook explains his hair style as a necessity. When Ursula asks why he wears his hair in a long braid and Ah Sam explains “I don’t want to. But the Manchus would kill me if I cut it.” The Manchus were the current rulers of China. Traditional Chinese clothing and traditions are described in detail of the Chinese New Year celebration that substitutes as Ursula’s dream circus.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Ten-year-old "Pirate Ursula" is the fearless leader of her playmates, but after she contracts smallpox and is left with significant facial scarring, she sees herself as "Monster Ursula." She becomes a recluse, never leaving her family's stagecoach station in early 20th-century Whistle, MT. Ursula is a very human child surrounded by mostly sympathetic adults. Through the efforts of the new Chinese cook, Ah Sam, she eventually finds the courage to rediscover Pirate Ursula. He and his family of acrobats help to heal not just the girl, but also the racial divides in Whistle, and Ursula finally understands that it is what is inside a person that matters most. Touches of humor and whimsy counter the darkness she feels about herself. That these events are based on fact enables readers to accept the fairly quick turnaround in the villagers' racist attitudes. Wang's evocative illustrations add to the flavor of this quick, absorbing read.”
Review from BOOKLIST: “Yep has based his novel on a true story, and his writing is, by turns, direct, humorous, and poignant. He doesn't gloss over the hardships faced by Chinese immigrants, but he clearly relished finding an upbeat incident to recount. Ursula and her friends will seem believable to young readers, and the descriptions of circus acts and Chinese New Year traditions are a plus.”
Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Yep (Newbery Honor, Dragon's Gate, 1994), has applied his considerable skills to embellish a true story into a moving parable of how people help each other overcome suffering. The simple plot uses perfectly believable characterizations to discuss deceptively complex emotions and issues for those who would mine its lessons, but Ursula's own story of healing is rewarding enough for those who read from the younger child's point of view.”
CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for discussing cultural awareness and compassion.
*Create Reader’s Theatre script for interactive reading aloud.
* Use to discuss History, racism, community and tolerance.
************************************************************************************
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Say, Allen. 2004. Music for Alice. Ill. by Allen Say. Houghton Mifflin: Boston. ISBN 0618311181
PLOT SUMMARY: Historical account of the true-life story of Alice Sumida and her husband Mark. Both were Japanese American farmers at the end of the 20th century. Their hardships and life story from, almost, being shipped to a Japanese internment camp at the beginning of World War II, to becoming the owners of the largest gladiola farm with the help of government loan for two hundred acres of desert land. Theirs is the story
of a sad beginning to a rich ending. Alice had dreams of dancing before World War II began and was sidetracked by hard farm work and duty. Towards the end of her life, she looks back on her full life and decides the time of dancing has arrived.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Allen Say shares Alice’s life story in a series of short eloquent paragraphs with accompanying illustration. Each illustration contains cultural markers with skin tone, facial features, body features, hair style and clothing of the era. Besides identification of specific culture, the text is devoid of cultural markers. The culture is that of Japanese Americans and the text clearly depicts the cultural accurately. The theme of Music for Alice is set more towards dancing. Alice as a child adored dancing, married a man “… who wasn’t much of a dancer …” and both did not have time to dance during their years together. Alice did not have time to dance until late in her life and then decided after her hardworking life, it was finally time to dance.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Life changes drastically for Alice when World War II breaks out. Like many other Japanese Americans living on the West Coast, she and her husband are forced from their home. They choose to work as farm hands rather than be sent to an internment camp. Together, they overcome every indignity and challenge that come their way, and eventually build the largest gladiola bulb farm in the country. Say relates the true story of Alice Sumida in an understated and eloquent style. Alice's childhood love of dancing is deftly woven into the imagery of the text. As in much of his work, the masterful illustrations provide an emotional depth not always evident in the narration. The overall design, resembling a family photo album, accentuates the book as personal history. The detailed portraits and soft colors of the farm give way to drab hues and figures with nondescript features and wide-brimmed hats that hide their eyes and their identities-symbolic of the plight of Japanese Americans during the war. The final pictures of a now elderly Alice depict the spirit and dignity that her life story suggests.”
Review from BOOKLIST: “From the close-up jacket portrait of an elderlyapanese American woman to the final view of her ballroom dancing before a black-tie audience, this picture book, based on a true-life story, will appeal more to adults than kids, though some young readers will respond to the history and the understated, first-person account of trouble and courage. The first painting, repeated on the back cover, is a sepia-tone view of Alice as aapanese American child, dreaming of music and dance on a California farm. She marries, and the World War II roundups follow, with a haunting view of her and her husband in the crowd, labeled like luggage. Instead of being sent to internment camp, they are allowed to grow food for the war effort. Their first harvest is a harvest of stones, but they go on to make the desert bloom and eventually become the largest gladiola bulb growers in the country. One glorious picture shows them in a huge field of flowers. The drama is quiet. As always with Say, the exquisite watercolors tell an American story.”
Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Once again, Say (Home of the Brave) practically takes one's breath away with the understated beauty of his watercolors. With a photo-like realism, he depicts Alice, an elderly Japanese-American woman, capturing every age spot and laugh line and making her radiant skin almost tactile. Her portrait telegraphs an inner peace and elegant beauty. Alice's story begins in California where, as a girl, she "loved dancing more than anything else." But after marrying, she embarks on a life of farming that allows little time for dancing. Say traces her uprooting during WWII, her ups and downs in the fields and the death of her husband. The narrative ends abruptly as the widowed, grieving Alice finds closure when she visits the farm she and her husband left 30 years before, finding it neglected and dilapidated. She declares, "Now I can dance!" The last image shows her dancing with a younger man, a scene that could profit from a bit more fleshing out ("And dance I do-all that I can"). Adults may respond best to this documentary-style life story.”
CONNECTIONS
Activities
*Use as read-aloud during Woman’s History Month.
*Create a time line of events in Alice’s life.
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