Sweet Dried Apples: A Vietnamese Wartime Childhood [Hardcover]

Rosemary K Breckler (Author), Deborah Kogan Ray (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

Inspired by a true story, this is an intimate, moving portrait of a childhood devastated by the war in Vietnam.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The title of Breckler's (Hoang Breaks the Lucky Teapot) poignant, plaintive tale refers to the fruit that the narrator's grandfather, an herb doctor in their Vietnamese village, uses to flavor his bitter remedies. The kindly patriarch looks after the narrator, her younger brother and mother after her father goes off to fight in the war. For a long time they hear rumbling and crackling in the distance, until one night the war finally reaches their village, seemingly consuming it in flames. In the morning the residents face a frightening, apocalyptic scene, as they crawl out into a "black world" in which no birds sing, the bamboo trees have disappeared and the rice fields are ashes. "We all wept," says the despondent girl. Her ailing grandfather helps the ill villagers but saves no medicine for himself; he "fell asleep forever." As the remaining members of her family surreptitiously depart their devastated village and leave Vietnam by boat, the girl vows "Someday... I will find a way back." Like the combination of her grandfather's herbs and apples, the ending is bittersweet; and the story is far more sad than hopeful. Ray's (My Prairie Year) haunting art dramatically yet convincingly interprets the climactic changes such tragic conflict brings. Sensitively dealing with a setting and subject few picture books touch, this is a worthy addition to any public or school library. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4?In wartime Vietnam, a young girl helps her grandfather who is an herbalist. She and her younger brother gather and dry herbs under his supervision and while he is away. One day, the elderly man returns emaciated, announcing that the war is coming to their village. It does, and grandfather ministers to its victims and dies himself. The siblings and their mother flee by boat and the girl vows to return to honor her beloved relative. This simple tale, based on real-life incidents of a friend of the author, is told with rather staccato dialogue and somewhat stilted prose. They are not enough, however, to drag down an intrinsically interesting story. Ray's watercolor illustrations faithfully depict a Vietnamese milieu, capturing the lush tropical surroundings with an oppressive closed-in feeling as the war looms, and a feeling of relief in the open sea scenes at the end. The apples of the title are somewhat problematic. In the story, they are used to sweeten the bitter herbal potions, a role assumed by dates and sometimes raisins but not apples, according to Vietnamese sources. A well-illustrated story, though not a first-choice purchase.?John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 28 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (September 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039573570X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395735701
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #679,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Book About A Topic Rarely Discussed., January 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Dried Apples: A Vietnamese Wartime Childhood (Hardcover)

This is a great book for all my students, especially my Vietnamese ones. Their parents were often refugees, but they do not know about the war. This is a good introduction to a history that touched parents and grandparents' lives. Americans were affected by this war also.