Grand Father's Journey

Grandfather's Journey 

Say, A. (1993). Grandfather's journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Allen Say’s grandfather left Japan as a young boy. He took a steamship across the Pacific Ocean to the United States.Everything Grandfather saw was new to him. He saw fields and mountains. He saw many different people. But Grandfather liked California best. He loved the mountains and the sea.Grandfather went back to Japan and got married. He brought his wife to California. But Grandfather missed Japan. He kept songbirds to remind him of Japan.Grandfather took his family back to Japan. But now Grandfather missed California. He kept songbirds to remind him of California.Grandfather wanted to visit California again, but a war broke out. Grandfather went back to his old village. He was too sad to keep songbirds anymore. Grandfather never saw California again. 

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and thought the content was important for students to read. The illustrations were my favorite part of the story, as the water color was beautifully done. This story artfully describes the struggles and anticipation involved with immigrating to a new place.

This story could obviously be put into a unit about immigration. It can also be put into a unit study for the particular war mentioned in the story. The illustrations, like most on the blog, allow for authentic writing opportunists. This could lead to a grand discussion on how immigration has affected students' families. This book should be read to intermediate or middle school aged students. The concepts in the book would best be understood by older students. 

Here are some potential activities!