By Kathy G. Short, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
The lack of books depicting contemporary global cultures has been an issue for many years with historical fiction, traditional literature and fantasy dominating the global books published in the U.S. This over-representation of history and traditions often results in stereotypes and misconceptions of these cultures as set back in time or no longer existing in the contemporary world. The recent emergence of picturebooks with contemporary depictions is thus a positive trend in providing books that invite children to make connections between their own culture and global cultures in today’s world.
Many of the contemporary picturebooks published between summer 2021 and 2022 focus on grandparents, highlighting the connections of love and caring that bring children and their grandparents together in special ways. Some highlight relationships with grandparents who live far away, others on supporting grandparents with memory loss, and still others on grandparents in the role of elders who teach, while a final set of books focus on a child experiencing the loss of a beloved grandparent.
Given global mobility, it’s no surprise that many children live far away from their grandparents who remain in the family’s country of origin. It’s significant that many of these picturebooks are written and illustrated by immigrants to the U.S. and so are based in family memories. Amah Faraway (Margaret Chiu Greanias & Tracy Subisak, 2022) and I Dream of Popo (Livia Blackburne & Julia Kuo, 2021) are written and illustrated by Taiwanese Americans about their grandmothers in Taiwan, portraying close relationships despite the distances involved. I’ll Go and Come Back by Rajani LaRocca and Sara Palacios (2022) is the story of a child who feels awkward when she visits her grandmother in India, but they gradually develop a close relationship. The phrase, “I’ll go and come back,” reflects a Tamil phrase that is used instead of goodbye. That same feeling of awkwardness is the theme of Grandpa Across the Ocean (Hyewon Yum, 2021) where a young boy visiting Korea views his grandfather as strange until an incident leads them to become inseparable as fellow troublemakers.
Grandparents can also serve in the role of elders who are teachers. Bird House by Blanca Gómez (2021) from Spain is the story of a grandmother who teaches her grandchild how to care for an injured bird and to let it fly free. Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps by Srividhya and Kavita Ramchandran (2021) is the story of an Indian American boy intrigued by the rhythm and grace of Bharatanatyam, a dance from India, but is afraid to show his interest because there are only girls in his sister’s dance class. But then his grandfather shows him pictures of himself dancing as a child in India and demonstrates the beauty of the dance, challenging Varun’s gender constructs.
Several Indigenous picturebooks portray grandparents connecting children to traditions within their cultures. Wiijibibamatton Anangoonan/Runs with the Stars by Darcy Whitecrow, Heather O’Connor and Lenny Lishchenko (2022) is set in northwest Ontario, Canada, where an Ojibwe grandfather teaches a child about the Ojibwe horses that once ran wild and have dwindled down to only a small herd. We Dream Medicine Dreams by Lisa Boivin (2021), a Diné artist, is a Canadian book about a grandfather who helps a young girl understand that her dreams connect her to the knowledge of ancestors and to teachings about how to live a good life.
Several books convey the sensitivity of young children who interact with grandparents experiencing memory loss. Holding On by Sophia Lee and Isabel Roxas (2022) is set in the Philippines where a young girl uses Tagalog love songs to connect with her grandmother as her memory fades. In Hundred Years of Happiness by Thąnhhá Lai, Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien (2022), An and her grandfather Ȏng come up with a plan to bring back a happy moment to her grandmother Bá who is trapped in cloudy memories. Together they plant seeds to grow a special fruit needed for Vietnamese sticky rice, a dish eaten at the couple’s long-ago wedding.
A final set of books focus on the emotions of young children as they experience the death of a grandparent. One Day is a translated book from Korea by Juck Lee and Seung-youn Kim (2021) that explores the inner world of a child coming to terms with a deep loss. The refrain, “Grandpa is gone,” keeps running through the boy’s mind as he touches his grandfather’s things to connect with his memories—and to say goodbye. The Sour Cherry Tree by Naseem Hrab and Nahid Kazemi (2021) also involves a young child wandering through her grandfather’s house where the objects she discovers stir memories of her Iranian Baba Bozorg. Though they spoke different languages, they shared hide-and-seek games along with tea and fig cookies, and these memories help the girl process her grief. Finally, The Yellow Suitcase by Meera Sriram and Meera Sethi (2021) follows a young girl traveling with her family to India to mourn her grandmother’s passing. Asha’s grief is compounded by an empty yellow suitcase that always held gifts carried to and from her grandmother–until she discovers a gift left behind just for her.
The significance of memories is a theme that runs through these touching and beautifully written and illustrated books. Readers, whether adult or child, will connect and share their own memories as they engage with the books. One final book, Where Three Oceans Meet by Rajani LaRocca and Archana Sreenivasan (2021) is about the creation of family memories. A girl and her mother travel to India to join a grandmother on a train trip across India, creating memories at each stop, until they reach the faraway spot where all three oceans meet. This cross-cultural and cross-generational picturebook highlights the similarities and differences that unite the three as love transcends distance.
This is part two of a planned four part look at trends in global literature for young people. Find part one in the WOW Currents archive. Find Kathy Short’s updated global recommended booklist among our thematic booklists.
WOW Currents is a space to talk about forward-thinking trends in global children’s and adolescent literature and how we use that literature with students. “Currents” is a play on words for trends and timeliness and the way we talk about social media. We encourage you to participate by leaving comments and sharing this post with your peers. To view our complete offerings of WOW Currents, please visit its archival stream.
- Themes: Kathy Short
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, Debates & Trends, WOW Currents