When children and adults make the complex adjustment of moving to a
new land, traditional customs and beliefs are sources of comfort and strength.
These stories show children celebrating their heritage through they food
they eat, the holidays they observe, the objects they hold dear, and the
relationships they have with their family.
Angel Child, Dragon Child, story by Michele Maria Surat,
illustrations by Vo-Dinh Mai. Nguyen Hoa, called "Ut" at home,
tries to adjust to living in America while waiting for her family to
earn enough money for her mother to join them from Vietnam. Ut keeps
a little matchbox with her mother's picture in it and tries to be an
"angel child," not a "dragon child." But when classmate
Raymond teases her about her "pajama" clothes and throws a
snowball at her, she can't resist-she retaliates. As punishment, the
principal puts them in a room together and tells Raymond to write down
Ut's family story. After hearing her story, Raymond proposes that the
school hold a fair to raise money for her mother. Surat's story depicts
the common experience of a child having to adjust to a new culture while
missing her old life and family. She also shows that, through greater
understanding, people like Raymond, initially hostile to immigrant cultures,
can come to celebrate them. Ages four to eight. (Carnival Press, Inc,
1983)
Lights for Gita, story by Rachna Gilmore, illustrations
by Alice Priestly. Gita looks forward to Diwali, the Hindu New Year's
celebration of lights, with a mixture of excitement and dread. Diwali
is her favorite holiday but she knows it won't be as fun as last year
when she was in New Delhi with her cousins. The November weather is
too icy for most of her friends to come over and too rainy for fireworks.
But her mother explains that Diwali is about filling darkness with light.
Gita agrees to help light the diyas (small oil lamps) in honor of the
Goddess Lakshmi. As they finish lighting up the room, the storm knocks
out the electricity. Gita, seeing how their apartment is lit up, realizes
that she has helped beat the darkness. Ages four to eight. (Tilbury
House Publishers, 2000)
A Gift for Abuelita: Celebrating the Day of the Dead (Un Regalo
para Abuelita: En Celebración del Día de los Muertos),
bilingual story by Nancy Luenn, illustrations by Robert Chapman. Rosita
and her abuelita (grandmother) spend every day together, cooking, gardening,
and learning to braid cord. When Abuelita dies, Rosita wishes she was
still on earth and not with the angels. Rosita's mother tells her that
a good way to tell Abuelita that she misses her is by making her a gift
on the Day of the Dead. As Rosita watches her family prepare their ofrenda
(gifts) for those who have died, she struggles to think of one for Abuelita.
Finally, after the Day of the Dead, when the family visits and cleans
Abuelita's grave, Rosita braids her gift, a "cord as strong as
their love," and is comforted by the memory of her loving grandmother.
Luenn's sentimental story and Chapman's touching mixed media illustrations
show how the Day of the Dead, a traditional Mexican-American holiday,
eases the mourning process for Rosita. Ages four to eight. (Rising Moon,
1998)
Sitti's Secrets, story by Naomi Shihab Nye, illustrations by
Nancy Carpenter. Though Mona's sitti (grandmother) lives in Palestine,
on the other side of the earth, Mona often thinks of her and her favorite
lemon tree. Mona was raised in the United States and doesn't speak Arabic,
but she remembers that during her visit to Palestine, she and her grandmother
communicated through their own language of pointing, hums, and claps.
Mona cherishes her memories of baking traditional flat bread, drinking
lemonade with mint leaves, and brushing her grandmother's long striped
hair. She was sad when her family returned to the United States and
she immediately wrote a letter to the president, asking him to think
of her grandmother and her lemon tree when he makes decisions about
Palestine. Ages four to eight. (Four Winds Press, 1994)
Masai and I, story and illustrations by Virginia Kroll,
illustrations by Nancy Carpenter. Sometimes we celebrate traditions
that aren't part of our family's customs, traditions we choose. When
young Linda learns about the tall, proud Masai of East Africa, she feels
a tingle of kinship. She imagines how her activities in urban America
correspond to the activities of a Masai. Instead of walking to the faucet
to get water, her brother would walk long distances to a water hole
and bring it back in gourds. She would not have a caged hamster, but
instead an entire herd of cows. Kroll's imaginative story and Carpenter's
captivating illustrations educate young readers about the Masai culture
through Linda's proud bond with it. Ages four to eight. (Four Winds
Press, 1992)
Yoko, story and illustrations by Rosemary Wells. Yoko
loves sushi, but when her classmates make fun of her lunch, she is embarrassed.
Seeing Yoko's dilemma, Mrs. Jenkins, her teacher, plans an International
Food Day when everyone is asked to bring a dish from a foreign country.
When the day arrives, the children bring a diverse menu of delicious
dishes representing their families-Nigerian nut soup, enchiladas, and
coconut crisps. Despite the rule that everyone must try everything,
all the students but Timothy skip Yoko's sushi. But Timothy tries some
and loves it. By the end of the day, Yoko and Timothy are friends and
decide in the future to share their lunches. Wells' simple story told
with animal characters contains a powerful message about how it feels
to appear different and how understanding can help build bridges. Ages
three to seven. (Hyperion Books for Children, 1998)
Jalapeño Bagels, story by Natasha Wing, illustrations
by Robert Casilla. Pablo spends his morning working with his parents
in their panadería, bakery. As he helps, he considers what food
he should bring to his school's Inter-national Day. First, he helps
his mother make pan dulce (sweet bread) and empanadas de calabaza (pumpkin
turnovers). Then he helps his dad make challah (Jewish braided bread)
and bagels. When his parents work together to make jalapeño bagels,
Pablo realizes that they are the perfect dish for International Day
because they are a mixture of both his parents, just like him. Wing
includes recipes for both chango (monkey man) bars and jala-peño
bagels, as well as a glossary of both Spanish and Yiddish terms. Ages
four to eight. (Athenium book for Young Readers, 1996)
The Keeping Quilt, story and illustrations by Patricia
Polacco. Polacco tells the story of the quilt made by her Great-Gramma
Anna and her mother after they moved from Russia to New York. They sewed
the quilt from Anna's old dress, her babushka (scarf), her uncle Vladmir's
shirts, Aunt Havalah's nightdress, and Aunt Natasha's apron. Created
to remember their home in Russia, the blanket served for generations
as a wedding huppa (canopy), a blanket for sick relatives and newborn
babies, and a tablecloth for birthdays and Jewish ceremonies. Polacco's
quilt, an active symbol of her Russian Jewish heritage, traces her history
through many generations to her own marriage and the birth of her own
children. Ages four to eight. (Simon & Schuster Books for Young
Readers, 1998)
