The Year of the Dog

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lin, Grace.2005. The Year of the Dog. New York: Little Brown. ISBN-5

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Year of the Dog is a story of Pacy and her search to "find herself" during the year of the dog. Pacy struggles throughout the year, but manages to find friendship and luck all the same.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Grace Lin moves away from picture books and tackles her first juvenile novel with The Year of the Dog.  Pacy, or Grace to her school friends, is determined to discover her talents.  The year of the dog is supposed to be for discovering new friends and yourself.  Written with a diary like quality, The Year of the Dog is an easy read that will allow children to connect to Grace on a friendly, personal level. 

Scattered throughout the book are short family tales that help to share the Taiwanese culture.  Within these short stories are cultural gems that help the reader to understand the customs and mannerisms of the Taiwanese American way of life.  Although the stories sometimes feel as if they have caused a disjointedness within the story as a whole, their value culturally is worth the slight off feeling which occurs. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
• 2006 Fall Publisher's Pick
• Starred Booklist Review
• 2006 ALA Children's Notable
• 2006 Asian Pacific American Librarian Association Honor
• 2006 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) GOLD Winner
• 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist
• 2007 Nene Awards Recommended List (Hawaii's Book Award Chosen by Children Grades 4-6)
• 2007 Cochecho Readers' Award List (sponsored by the Children's Librarians of Dover, New Hampshire)
• NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2006
• Kirkus Best Early Chapter Books 2006
•2006 Booklist Editors' Choice for Middle Readers
•Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice 2007
•Boston Authors Club Recommended Book
•2007-2008 Great Lakes Great Books Award nominee
•2007-2008 North Carolina Children's Book Award nominee
•2007-2008 West Virginia Children's Book Award nominee
•2009 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award (OR) nominee
•2009 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award (WA, OR, ID)nominee

5. CONNECTIONS

Visit the authors website at http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=book_yeardog

What "year" were you born in?  Learn about the Chinese zodiac.

What is the Chinese New Year?  Learn about it here: http://www.chinaholidays.com/guide/chinese-culture/chinese-new-year.html

Read additional books about Chinese New Year:

Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Chinese New Year: With Fireworks, Dragons, and Lanterns by Carolyn Otto (Jan 13, 2009)

A New Year's Reunion: A Chinese Story by Li Qiong Yu and Zhu Chen Liang (Oct 31, 2011)

The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale by Ying Chang Compestine and Sebastia Serra (Jan 6, 2011)

Pacy is Tiawanese.  Learn more about Taiwan at http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/

Make a paper lantern to celebrate the new year.

Make a snake craft to celebrate 2013 as the year of the snake (instructions at http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mspiralsnake.htm)

Tea with Milk

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1999. Tea with Milk. Ill. Allen Say.  New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780547237473

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Tea with Milk is the story of Masako, or May to her friends in San Francisco.  May was born and raised in America, but must return to Japan when her parents decide to return home.  May must learn to assimilate into a culture which is hers and yet feels strange and out of place.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Tea with Milk is written in a linear format.  It is the story of one young woman's journey away from one home and to another.  Say pays wonderful tribute to his mother and tells the story of two people who feel like outsiders and how they made a home. 

Cultural markers run throughout the work.  Say incorporates the differences between Japanese culture and American culture seamlessly through May's homesickness and acceptance of her new home.  The differences begin to be highlighted on the first page of text.  "At home she had rice and mi so soup and plain green tea for breakfast.  At her friends' houses she ate pancakes and muffins and drank tea with milk and sugar" (p.4).  Perhaps the most striking cultural difference which is depicted is the different role and expectation of women between the two cultures.  May had planned to attend college, work, and live on her own in San Francisco. However, in Japan she is expected to learn to serve tea and marry well.

Say helps to depict the sadness of May with his illustrations.  The illustrations progress from shades of gray and muted pastels to a firmer, darker landscape as May finds her way in her new world and creates a home for herself.  Traditional kimonos and school uniforms help to define the landscape and provide identifying cultural markers even without the text. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(s)

Say's masterfully executed watercolors tell as much of this story about a young woman's challenging transition from America to Japan as his eloquent, economical prose.- Publishers Weekly

This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own.- School Library Journal

This perfect marriage of artwork and text offers readers a window into a different place and time.- Library Journal(May)

Painted with characteristic control and restraint, Say's illustrations, largely portraits, begin with a sepia view of a sullen child in a kimono, gradually take on distinct, subdued color, and end with a formal shot of the smiling young couple in Western dress. - Kirkus Reviews

"Continuing to explore place and home, Say tells the story of his mother, first introduced to readers in TREE OF CRANES. Born in California to Japanese immigrants, Masako is miserable when she moves to Japan with her parents after high school. The illustrations capture Masako's unhappiness and also her eventual contentment as she learns to combine two cultures." Horn Book

5.  CONNECTIONS

Read more about author Allen Say at http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/author.shtml
Read an interview with the author at http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/allen-say-interview-transcript-1

Have a tea ceremony.
Explore Japanese culture.  Compare Japan to America.  How are we the same?  How are we different?

The Name Jar

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Choi, Yangsook. 2001. The Name Jar. Ill. Yangsook Choi.  New York: Dragonfly Books. ISBN 9780440417996

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Name Jar tells the story of Unhei, a young girl who has come to America from Korea.  Unhei wants to make friends but worries that no one will be able to pronounce her name.  She decides to have a name jar and choose a new name from the suggestions in the jar.  But, what name should she choose?

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The Name Jar is written from the perspective of a young Korean girl who is trying to decide who she is in her new home.  Unhei does not want to be made fun of for her name which is difficult to pronounce for her new classmates.  She decides to pick a new American name and begins to collect suggestions in her name jar. 

Yangsook Choi does a wonderful job of incorporating Korean culture into the short picture book.  Unhei is giver her name carved into a block of wood which can be used as her signature when she is in Korea.  Also, she and her mother visit Mr. Kim's market where they purchase groceries to make traditional Korean food.  Choi also includes information about Korean traditions such as the use of a name master when selecting the name for a new baby. 

The illustrations which were also done by the author depict wonderful diversity within the children of Unhei's class.  Each child has varied skin tones as well as varied hair styles and textures.  Unhei and her family have several authentic physical features which are common among Korean Americans.  Unhei's hair is smooth, black and straight.  Her eyes have a slight tilt to them.  And her skin is a lovely creamy tan.  Anyone who has had Korean friends will recognize that Unhei is Korean from the illustrations.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(s)
WINNER 2003 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Master List
NOMINEE 2005 Arizona Young Readers Award
"Cultural details freshen the story"- New York Times Book Review

"Choi draws from her own experience, interweaving several issues into this touching account and delicately addressing the challenges of assimilation"- Kirkus

5.  CONNECTIONS

Visit the author's website at http://www.yangsookchoi.com/

Read an interview with the author at http://andychuang.com/thenamejar.html

Have children select a symbol that represents their name.  Create apple or potato stamps of their symbol and have each child stamp their "name"

Create your own name jar.  If you could choose any name for yourself what would it be?

Research the meaning and origin of students names.

Other books by Yangsook Choi:

Behind the Mask, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2006 ISBN 0-374-30522-6

Earthquake, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2001 ISBN 0-374-39964-6
Gai See, Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007, ISBN 0-810-99337-6 7
Good-bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong, National Geographic, 2002, ISBN 0-7922-7985-9
Landed, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2006 ISBN 0374343144

New Cat, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1999, ISBN 0-374-35512-6
Nim and the War Effort, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1997, ISBN 0-374-35523-1
Peach Heaven, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2005, ISBN 0-374-35761-7

Rice Is Life, Henry Holt, 2000, ISBN 0-8050-5719-6
The Sun Girl and the Moon Boy, Knopf, 1997, ISBN 0-679-88386-X
This Next New Year, Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2000, ISBN 0-374-35503-7