The Lotus Seed (Hardcover)

by Sherry Garland (Author), Tatsuro Kiuchi (Illustrator) "One terrible day her family scramble into a crowded bout and set out on a stormy sea Ba watched the mountains and the waving palms..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bao Dai

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The spare simplicity of Garland's tale about remembering one's birthplace is richly amplified by Kiuchi's arresting, light-filled paintings--his debut--awash with burnished gold and greens. As elegant as the lotus flower itself, the book's design includes subtle white borders on cream paper that frame both the poetic text and the opposing portrait-like illustrations. Garland ( Song of the Buffalo Boy ) focuses her story on Ba, a Vietnamese girl whose escape from the devastating war in Vietnam is told by her granddaughter. "My grandmother saw / the emperor cry," she says, "the day he lost / his golden dragon throne." Wanting a memento of the event, the child "plucked a seed / from a lotus pod / that rattled / in the Imperial garden." Eventually, Ba arrives in America: "a strange new land / with . . . towering buildings / that scraped the sky." (Kiuchi's overhead perspective of skyscrapers and streaming traffic is an especially striking image.) Ba plants the lotus seed; when it blooms, she gives each of her grandchildren one of its seeds so they will recall the land of her birth. The lotus, she tells them "is the flower / of life and hope." Exquisite artwork fuses with a compelling narrative--a concise endnote places the story effectively within a historical context--to produce a moving and polished offering. Ages 8-up. Chil dren's BOMC Selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-- A nameless Vietnamese narrator tells of her grandmother who, as a girl, accidentally sees the last emperor cry on the day of his abdication. She surreptitiously enters the palace gardens and takes a lotus seed as a remembrance of that day and her ruler. She keeps the seed with her through vicissitudes of war, flight, and emigration until one summer a grandson (the narrator's brother) steals it and plants it in a mud pool near the family's American home. Grandmother is inconsolable when the exact spot cannot be found. The following spring, a lotus grows from the mud puddle and in time the elderly woman gives a seed to each of her grandchildren, reserving one for herself. The narrator vows to plant hers one day, give the seeds to her own children, keep the tradition, and share her grandmother's memories. This tale of hope and continuance is told with disarming simplicity. Interesting oil paintings, largely in earth tones, are slightly mannered, yet culturally accurate, and often moving in their amplification of the text. A warm addition to school and public library collections. --John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (April 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152494650
• ISBN-13: 978-0152494650
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #632,121 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, Yet Great Story!, August 17, 2000

By	Paul Martin (Waukesha, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This story is easy for young children to understand and is good enough for them to ask for repeat readings, again and again. It contains a few factors that make for a great childrens book. It's relatively short, the illustrations are exceptional, it's easy to understand and it's a compelling story.

Follow the life of Ba, a young Veitnamese girl, who collects a lotus seed from the imperial garden of her emperor to serve as a momento of a time in her childhood. She takes the seed with her through her tumultous life, as she grows, and moves to a new country, and to a new life. The seed seems to serve as a symbol of her past and her endurance.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully sentimental., January 26, 1999

By A Customer

An exceptional story with outstanding illustration. A girl wanting something to remember the Emperor by takes a seed from a lotus pod from the Imperial Garden. Throughout all of the trials and changes in her life she cherishes that seed until one day it is taken and planted by her grandson. Finally it grows to be beautiful and strong, "It is the flower of life and hope, no matter how ugly the mud or how long the seed lies dormant, the bloom will be beautiful. It is the flower of my country." A superb book that looks at families and Vietnamese culture. (explained further in author's note)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a beautiful book!, January 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lotus Seed (Paperback)

I can't get over how beautiful this book is. I can't wait to share it with my Vietnamese students and those who are war refugees. I would like to see if they can relate to the story.