Grandfather's Journey

Written and Illustrated by Allen Say

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company

Grandfather's Journey is an inspirational memoir that tells the story of a man who had emotional ties to two places, continents away from each other. Allen Say tells the story of his maternal grandfather as a young boy until the end of his life, stopping to explain when his mother and himself were born, but ultimately coming back full circle to tell the reader that he is just like his grandfather in his longing for Japan and California.

I see this book as a personal photo album. It is like you are looking into a photo album of Say's ancestry. The illustrations are so much like old photographs. It is amazing the way that Say has captured the detail of photography from the early twentieth century until the late twentieth century. Also, his interpretation of the style of clothing from that vast period of time is also impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if he sketched some of the illustrations from actual family photographs.

As for the text, it is very enjoyable and extremely sentimental. Say is a great story teller, tugging at the reader's heart, drawing you into feeling the longing that he and his granfather shared for those two places. I think between the illustrations and the text, the book takes on a life of its own, grabbing hold of your emotions and putting you into the shoes of Say's grandfather.

I think this book is a great addition to have to any lesson about memoirs because it is a true to life story that anyone can relate to. That longing feeling that children might have when they leave their grandparents house is an experience that children can relate to with the longing felt by the characters in the book. I think this type of book is great for students to expand on and perhaps take the viewpoint of the grandfather, writing a short story about how the grandfather felt when he had to leave California or Japan. This type of creative writing gives students a chance to explore their own personal feelings and practice putting themselves into the shoes of a character in a text, thinking analytically about the text.