Culture 5: Tea with Milk

Bibliography: Say, Allen. 1999. Tea With Milk. Ill. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395904954

Plot Summary: May's parents decide to return to their homeland, Japan, after she graduates from high school. May does not want to leave the only home she can remember; she wants to attend college in San Francisco. But her parents make her go to Japan with them. She hates her new home. She doesn't like wearing a kimono, she hates sitting on the floor, and Masako, her Japanese name, feels like it belongs to someone else. She has to attend high school all over again so she can learn the language. She decides to go out on her own after a disastrous blind date. She finds a job and rents a room in a rooming house. Eventually she meets a man, Joseph, who also speaks English. They became good friends and went out often. After learning that Joseph had been transferred to another city they decided they would both move there and make a new home for themselves... together.

Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers):
Allen Say wrote Tea With Milk to share the experiences his mother had moving from one culture to another. May grew up in the United States, and she dreamed of living in San Francisco and attending college when she graduated from high school. At home, her parents spoke to her in Japanese, called her Ma-chan, and she had rice and miso soup and plain green tea for breakfast. When she was at a friend’s house she would eat pancakes and muffins and drink tea with milk and sugar, and everyone called her May.

Her parents decided to move back to Japan after May graduated from high school. The only home she had ever known was the United States. She did not want to leave. The worst part about it was she would have to attend high school all over again so she could “learn her own language”. She could not make friends with anyone at school. They all called her “gaijin” which means foreigner. She did not like wearing kimonos or “sitting on the floor until her legs went numb”. She never thought she would get used to living in Japan.

Some of the traditional Japanese things her parents subjected her to included flower arranging, calligraphy, and tea ceremony lessons. Her mother told her she needed to be “a proper Japanese lady” who married a man from “a good family”. May did not want to get married. She dreamed of going to college and having an apartment of her own. She went on a date set up by a matchmaker, but she did not like him at all. She left the next morning. Her parents had wanted to come back to Japan because they no longer wanted to be foreigners, but May felt like “a foreigner in her parents’ country”.

May is excited when she finds a department store, and she is thankful her mother made her take calligraphy lessons when she is filling out an application for a job. Her mother thought it was “shameful for ladies to work”. May did not tell her she got a job as an elevator girl. One day she hears a family speaking English, and she becomes very excited. She had to translate what they were looking for, and this opened the opportunity of a new job. She became the store’s guide for businessmen. It is through this new job that she meets the man, Joseph, who would eventually become her husband. After dating for some time, Joseph finds out he is being transferred to another city. He tells May that “home isn’t a place or a building that’s ready-made and waiting for you, in America or anywhere else”. They decide to make a home for themselves together in Yokohama. Allen Say was their first child.

Say is also the illustrator of the story. His watercolors vividly convey May’s emotions as well as the physical features of the Japanese people. Traditional dress is seen on the men and women. Most of the men are wearing business suits and the women are wearing kimonos. Their faces are serious and seldom do you see a smile. There is one illustration of Joseph and May on a date and there is another couple at a different table. It appears as if the woman might be smiling or laughing, but she has her hand covering her mouth possibly to hide her smile. The portrait at the end of the story shows both Joseph and May smiling. This lets the reader know that May is finally happy, and she and Joseph have made a happy home together in Yokohama.


Review Excerpt(s):
From Publishers Weekly
Say's masterfully executed watercolors tell as much of this story about a young woman's challenging transition from America to Japan as his eloquent, economical prose. Raised near San Francisco, Masako (her American friends called her May) is uprooted after high school when her parents return to their Japanese homeland. In addition to repeating high school to learn Japanese, she must learn the arts of a "proper Japanese lady"A flower arranging, calligraphy and the tea ceremony, and is expected to marry well. Declaring "I'd rather have a turtle than a husband," the independent-minded Masako heads for the city of Osaka and gets a job in a department store. With his characteristic subtlety, Say sets off his cultural metaphor from the very start, contrasting the green tea Masako has for breakfast in her home, with the "tea with milk and sugar" she drinks at her friends' houses in America. Later, when she meets a young Japanese businessman who also prefers tea with milk and sugar to green tea, readers will know that she's met her match. Say reveals on the final page that the couple are his parents. Whether the subject is food ("no more pancakes or omelets, fried chicken or spaghetti" in Japan) or the deeper issues of ostracism (her fellow students call Masako "gaijin"A foreigner) and gender expectations, Say provides gentle insights into human nature as well as East-West cultural differences. His exquisite, spare portraits convey emotions that lie close to the surface and flow easily from page to reader: with views of Masako's slumping posture and mask-like face as she dons her first kimono, or alone in the schoolyard, it's easy to sense her dejection. Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms. Ages 4-8.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 6-Continuing the story he started in Grandfather's Journey (Houghton, 1993), Say explores familiar themes of cultural connection and disconnection. He focuses on his mother Masako, or May, as she prefers to be called, who, after graduating from high school in California, unwillingly moves with her parents to their native Japan. She is homesick for her native country and misses American food. She rebels against her parents, who force her to repeat high school so that she can learn "her own language"; the other students tease her for being "gaijin" or a foreigner. Masako leaves home and obtains a job in a department store in Osaka, a city that reminds her of her beloved San Francisco. Her knowledge of English quickly makes her a valued employee and brings her into contact with her future husband, Joseph, a Japanese man who was educated at an English boarding school in Shanghai. They decide that together they can make a life anywhere, and choose to remain in Japan. Say's many fans will be thrilled to have another episode in his family saga, which he relates with customary grace and elegance. The pages are filled with detailed drawings featuring Japanese architecture and clothing, and because of the artist's mastery at drawing figures, the people come to life as authentic and sympathetic characters. This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own.
Ellen Fader, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

Connections:
Discussion Questions and Activities:
*Before reading the story- show the students the pictures on pgs. 5 and 7. Have them write a brief description about each picture.
*Masako had to attend high school all over again to learn "her own language". How would you feel if you had to spend another 4 years in school to learn a new language? What challenges would you experience?
*Why do you think Masako "put on the brightest dress she had brought from California" when she left her house for good?
*Look at the picture on pg. 27. Create a short story about the other couple in the picture with a partner. Share it with the class.
*Interview your parent(s) to find out their story. Create a short story about your parents. (Extension- create a digital storybook using FRAMES software.)
Other Books by Allen Say:
*Grandfather's Journey. 1994 Caldecott Medal Winner. ISBN 9780547076805
*Emma's Rug. ISBN 9780618335237
*Kamishibai Man. ISBN 9780618479542
*The Boy in the Garden. ISBN 0547214103
*Tree of Cranes. ISBN 9780547248301

Culture 5: The Year of the Dog

Bibliography: Lin, Grace. 2006. The Year of the Dog. Ill. by Grace Lin. New York: Little, Brown, and Company. ISBN 9780316060004

Plot Summary: Pacy is celebrating the Chinese New Year with her Taiwanese family. It is the Year of the Dog which means it is a good year for friends, family, and finding yourself. Grace (Pacy's American name) makes a new Taiwanese friend at school, learns more about her family's history, and finally discovers her talent. The Year of the Dog is definitely a lucky one for her!

Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers):
Grace Lin is a Taiwanese-American who was raised in upstate New York. She uses her childhood experiences to write the story The Year of the Dog. It is told in the first person using the voice of a child, Pacy. Pacy is her family name, but she is known as Grace at school. The story shares her experiences throughout the Year of the Dog as she searches for true friends and her hidden talent.

Lin adds child-like drawings throughout the book to illustrate some of the events. The pictures look like those that would be found in a child’s journal. “How to draw a dog,” “Mom sleeps in school,” “celebrating the Day of the Unicorn,” and “Wizard of Oz curtain call” are a few examples. The simple drawings, along with the emotions and stories shared in the text, allow the reader to believe that it is a child telling the story.

Traditional foods listed in the book include those served for the Chinese New Year: whole fried fish, meat dumplings, “vegetables shining with oil”, steamed buns, shrimp in milky sauce, and pork. All of the food served had special meaning- wealth. It is also important to have a New Year tray filled with Chinese candy. New Year’s candy is stick taffy melon candy that is the color of the moon. Other foods include ‘healthy’ Chinese food that was served at her friend Melody’s house- brown rice, vegetables that were not stir fried, and tofu that didn’t have any “shiny sauce on it”, and dried apricots for dessert.

Lin reveals in the author’s note that this book is “mostly true”. She admits that almost everything in the story had “real-life inspiration”. She explains the identity conflicts in the story: her parents were from Taiwan, which used to be called the Republic of China, so some adults would label them Chinese. They spoke Taiwanese to their relatives on the phone, and they lived in America. They celebrated Chinese New Year with some ‘American’ parts thrown in. This was very confusing to a young child, and several ‘stories’ in the book showed that.

When it was time for students to sign up for the school play Grace knew she wanted to try out for the role of Dorothy. She practiced singing every day and even drew pictures of Dorothy in her checkered dress. On the day of the try-outs her friend Becky tells her that she can’t be Dorothy because “Dorothy’s not Chinese”. She hadn’t thought of this before. Grace decides not to try out for the part after all. This causes her to ask, “How come Chinese people are never important?” She realizes that you never see a Chinese person “in the movies or in a play or in a book”. She and Melody went to the library to ask for a Chinese book. The only book they find is The Seven Chinese Brothers (although the illustration shows the book Five Chinese Brothers). “Those aren’t real Chinese people, though. You’re brother doesn’t have a ponytail.” Grace says to Melody. From this discovery comes the idea of writing her own “real Chinese person book” with “people like us- Chinese Americans”. She remembers the book contest and decides to enter it.

Grace has to face prejudice within her own Taiwanese- America culture when her family attends the Taiwanese-American Convention over the summer. This is a place for Taiwanese-Americans to “get together and do things”. When Grace attends an art class she discovers that she is the only one who doesn’t speak Taiwanese or Chinese. Some girls make fun of her and tell her she’s been Americanized. They call her a Twinkie- “yellow on the outside but white on the inside”. Later when she’s talking to her mother she says “It’s not fair. To Americans, I’m too Chinese, and to Chinese people, I’m too American.” She wasn’t sure which one she was supposed to be. Her mother told her that she was Chinese-American and she didn’t have to be one more than the other.

These different threads twisted her life into knots, but the author tells us again in the author’s note that “the fabric of my life is richer for them”. By weaving these threads of her life stories together, and with her simple illustrations, Grace Lin has created her “real Chinese person book” that will leave readers wanting more.

Review Excerpt(s):
Booklist Starred Review:
“Lin, who is known for her picture books, dots the text with charming ink drawings.... Most of the chapters are bolstered by anecdotes from Grace’s parents, which connect Grace (and the reader) to her Taiwanese heritage. Lin does a remarkable job capturing the soul and the spirit of books like those of Hayward or Maud Hart Lovelace, reimaging them through the lens of her own story, and transforming their special qualities into something new for today’s young readers.” (Gr. 3-5)
Horn Book
“With a light touch, Lin offers both authentic Taiwanese-American and universal childhood experiences, told from a genuine child perspective. The story, interwoven with several family anecdotes, is entertaining and often illuminating. Appealing, childlike decorative line drawings add a delightful flavor to a gentle tale full of humor.”
Kirkus Review
“Occasional black-and-white drawings by the author enliven the text. This comfortable first-person story will be a great for Asian-American girls looking to see themselves in their reading, but also for any reader who enjoys stories of friendship and family life.”

Connections:
Discussion Questions and Activities:
*Compare/contrast dinner at Grace's house and Melody's house.
*2011 is the year of the Rabbit. Make a paper plate rabbit using directions found at http://crafts.kaboose.com/paper-plate-rabbit.html.
*2012 is the year of the Dragon. Create a Chinese Dragon using the directions found at http://crafts.kaboose.com/chdragoneasy.html.
*Prepare some common Chinese New Year dishes for students to sample: dumplings, spring rolls, rice, and Chinese New Year candy.
*Write a story about one of your own New Year's traditions.
Other Books by Grace Lin:
*Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (2010 Newbery Honor Book) ISBN 9780316038638
*The Year of the Rat. ISBN 031611426X
*Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! (Horn Book Fanfare List (Awards)ISBN 9780316024525
*Dim Sum for Everyone!ISBN 9780440417705
*The Ugly Vegetables. ISBN 9780881063363

Culture 5: The Kite Fighters

Bibliography: Park, Linda Sue. 2000. The Kite Fighters. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 0395940419

Plot Summary: Young-Sup is a strong kite flier. His older brother Kee-Sup can design a kite out of paper and wood that is fit for a king. Together they make a strong pair. They can't wait to showcase their talent at the next New Year kite competition. One problem stands in their way- the centuries-old tradition requiring the younger brother to stand behind his older brother. Young-Sup knows he is better than his older brother, but can they convince their father of this?

Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers):
The Kite Fighters takes place in Seoul, Korea in 1473. It is the story of two young brothers who live under the Confucion rule which dictates filial law (how a child shows respect to his parents). Kee-sup and Young-sup are brothers. The eldest son, Kee-sup, is heir to all of the privileges and responsibilities of the “House of Lee”. It is Young-sup’s duty to help his brother regardless of what he wants or desires.

Kee-sup’s capping ceremony occurs at the beginning of the kite season. This is an important rite in the Korean culture. The family dresses in their finest clothes, scrolls are hung, and they have a celebration feast. During the capping ceremony, Kee-sup’s hair was “twisted upward and around itself until it formed a smooth knot on the top of his head”. A plain narrow ribbon is tied around the chin. Formal bows are made, and the ceremony concludes with the shedding of his bright jacket and the donning of “the white clothes of adulthood”. Once a boy has his capping ceremony he is treated like an adult. Young-sup struggles with treating him like an adult rather than his oldest brother.

Kee-sup can make exquisite kites, but he is not very good at flying them. Young-sup cannot make a kite, but he can ‘feel’ the movement of the kite and can always get one to fly. The annual kite fighting contest is approaching, and Young-sup wants to participate, but it is tradition for the eldest son to represent the family. Young-sup will have to obey the traditions and let his brother compete if that is what he wants.

After earning a new reel for his kite, Young-sup and Kee-sup go out to the hillside to fly their tiger kites. It is here they cross paths with the King, who is just eleven-years-old. (“The custom and law of the land dictated that his son become King in his place. That was the natural order of things.” When His Majesty the King died suddenly his son was only eight years old.) The King had seen the tiger kites flying, and he wanted to see who was flying them. The King asks Kee-sup to make him a “King’s kite”. He wanted one that would “fly like Young-sup’s tiger”.

Kee-sup’s father freed him of his studies for as long as it took him to build the kite. After several attempts they ask their father for advise, and he tells them to make a dragon kite. The dragon is the “country’s symbol for His Majesty”. Kee-sup builds a beautiful dragon kite, but he is not quite satisfied with it. He refuses to cut the paper for several days and Young-sup argues with him because he thinks it is rude to keep the King waiting. One evening, while the boys were arguing yet again, their father walks into the room. He frowns at Young-sup and tells him he can no longer argue with his brother. “Your brother has been capped. He is no longer a boy. You will not treat him so discourteously again.” he tells Young-sup. The next day he presents Kee-sup with a small jar of “Gold leaf”. It is paint with real gold in it. After many days, Kee-sup decided to “flick and spatter the gold leaf over the whole surface of the kite.”

While Kee-sup was working on the kite, Young-sup went out to the hill to fly his own kite. The King comes out to meet him many times, and they become friends. Young-sup teaches the King how to fly a kite, and he decides he wants to enter the contest at the festival, but he knows he cannot be the one to compete because no one would try against him. He wants Young-sup to fly for him. When the boys tell their father of the King’s request he says that Kee-sup with be the flyer because he is the eldest. It was the eldest son who was expected to bring honor to the family. Kee-sup knows that Young-sup is the better flyer, and he wants to win for the king, so he goes against tradition and asks his father to allow Young-sup to enter the contest in his place. He agrees, but only because it was for the king.

Kee-sup and Young-sup work together to ensure Young-sup has the best chance at winning the contest. After Young-sup gets cut from a small piece of a broken jar, Kee-sup gets an idea. He makes a “heavy mixture of rice paste and powdered pottery” to add to the kite string to make it easy to cut other lines. It is because of this mixture and Young-sup’s kite-flying abilities that he is able to win the contest for the King.

This was a fun story to read, and it showed that although all relationships are complicated they are rewarding as well. Traditions have their place, but sometimes traditions do need to change. I will definitely highlight this book with a book talk at the beginning of the year.

Review Excerpt(s):
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-When Young-sup holds a kite in his hand, he knows exactly how to make it fly. His older brother, Kee-sup, struggles to launch his kite, but he knows exactly how to construct one that is beautiful in form and perfectly balanced. One day, the young king of Korea suddenly arrives with all of his attendants on the hillside where the brothers are playing with their matching tiger kites. He requests their help in learning to fly one, and then asks Kee-sup to make a kite for him. The boy is deeply honored and works diligently on it, a dragon flecked with real gold paint. Meanwhile, Young-sup is determined to win the kite-fighting competition at the New Year's festival. He practices on the hillside where the king frequently joins him, and their growing friendship leads to an interesting collaboration and a thorny challenge to tradition in Korea in 1473. The final contest, in which Young-sup flies for the king, is riveting. Though the story is set in medieval times, the brothers have many of the same issues facing siblings today. They play and argue, they compete for their father's attention, and eventually develop a greater understanding of one another. The author has drawn her characters with a sure touch, creating two very different boys struggling to figure out who they are. With ease and grace, Park brings these long-ago children to life.
Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
From Booklist
In this novel set in fifteenth-century Korea, Young-sup and his older brother, Kee-sup, love the popular sport of competitive kite flying. Kee-sup's talent is designing, building, and decorating the kites. Young-sup is less the craftsman, but his senses are in tune with the shifting winds. Their practice sessions attract the attention of the boy-king of Korea, who becomes friends with the brothers and asks them to craft him a kite fit for a king, then fly it in the New Year's Day kite fights. The boys devise innovations to give them an advantage in the contest: a blue kite string that will be lost against the sky and a coating of crushed pottery to sever an opponent's line. But tricks are no substitute for skill, which Young-sup proves he has. Besides catching the excitement of the ancient sport, the novel deals with intense sibling rivalry engendered by Korean family tradition. The conclusion is predictable but satisfying. An author's note authenticates some historical points in the fictional story, which feels consistently well-grounded in its time and place. -Catherine Andronik

Connections:
Discussion Questions and Activities:
*Describe a time when you have flown a kite. Was the experience more like Kee-sup's or Young-sup's? Explain your answer.
*Compare/contrast a capping ceremony to either a quinceañera or a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.
*Design a kite that would be "fit for a king".
*Have a kite flying contest with the kites the students create.
*Do you think it was fair for Young-sup to treat his line with glue and powdered pottery? Explain your answer.
Other Books by Linda Sue Park:
*A Single Shard 2002 Newbery Medal Winner. ISBN 9780547534268
*When My Name Was Keoko ISBN 9780440419440
*The Firekeeper's Son ISBN 9780547237695
*Archer's Quest ISBN 9780440422044
*Seesaw Girl ISBN 9780547248882