Thanksgiving at Obaachan's [Hardcover]

Janet Mitsui Brown (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

A young Japanese American girl describes her family's Thanksgiving celebration and explains why her Obaachan (Grandmother) makes it so special. Anyone whose family has expanded this American holiday to include reminders of their cultural heritage will appreciate this little girl's Thanksgiving and treasure the memories it evokes. 36 pages, hardbound with paper jacket; full color illustrations and a glossary.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this title, as in Jama Kim Rattigan's Dumpling Soup (1993), an Asian American girl describes how her family uniquely celebrates a holiday. The narrator, who is Japanese American, begins promisingly: "I stepped onto the dusty driveway as soon as our car stopped and headed straight for the sounds of laughter and familiar smells." Within, the girl describes Obaachan's (Grandmother's) Japanese-style house ("I saw her butsudan"--and the reader can identify the object in the illustration when told that "the photograph of my late Ojiichan is in front of it"). The Thanksgiving table offers up turkey along with tsukemono; and Obaachan and her granddaughter readily surmount the language barrier. But Brown's loose, occasionally crude watercolors lack luster, and she fumbles in the text as well (would a child say "I gazed at the familiar flowered pattern embossed on her cotton dress"?). Production values, too, are muddled: "I put five of then on my fingers," reads a phrase in the finished book. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-A Japanese-American girl tells about Thanksgiving at her grandmother's house. She does not speak Japanese, and Obaachan does not speak English, and the tale centers on their efforts at communication. Other relatives appear in the background, but the child's affection for her grandmother occupies center stage. A glossary of Japanese words is appended. The illustrations, naive watercolors, are at their best when depicting landscapes and interiors, including the objects and foods that give the story its cultural flavor. But the people are painted as caricatures, not as characters with genuine emotions. It is hard to imagine readers connecting with them, or enjoying the slight narrative, which lacks enough conflict to call it a story. This earnest attempt to foster multicultural understanding falls flat.
Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 36 pages
• Publisher: Polychrome Pub Corp; 1st edition (May 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879965070
• ISBN-13: 978-1879965072
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,514,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story for all Sansei!, May 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Thanksgiving at Obaachan's (Hardcover)

I loved, loved, loved this book. It really captured what it was like for me, a third generation Japanese American, growing up with "Ba-chan" who didn't speak much English. I was amazed at the way this simple story could make me feel so choked up and miss my own grandmother who died over 15 years ago. Please get the author to write more books like this one. I bought copies for all my grandchildren and all my friends' grandkids, too. It's a beautiful book--very Japanese American.