Watercress
Beautiful art portrays a family unearthing past hardship.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
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">What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Andrea Wang'sWatercress, illustrated byJason Chin(Grand Canyon), won the 2022Caldecott Medal. It's the story of a Chinese American family of four in rural Ohio in the 1970s. When out for a drive, the parents suddenly pull over to pick watercress growing by the roadside. The story is told from the point of view of the young daughter, riding in the back seat with her older brother. She's embarrassed and doesn't understand why her parents would want to do this. "A car passes by and I duck my head hoping it’s no one I know." The story reveals the parents' memories of the famine in China during the late '50s-early '60s, when they relied on watercress to survive, and includes the apparent death of the mom's younger brother, implied by his missing place at the dinner table in one of the flashback scenes.
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What's the Story?
A family pulls over to the side of the road to pick wild growing WATERCRESS. The young daughter doesn't know why her parents would make her and her brother pick this free but grubby produce that looks like weeds. When it's then served at their dinner table, she doesn't want to eat the peppery greens. "I only want vegetables from the grocery store," she says. Finally her mother brings out a photo or her mother, uncle, and their parents back in China, before they moved to the United States, and talks about the time when her family didn't have enough to eat, and were grateful to be able to gather have watercress.
Is It Any Good?
This moving, beautifully illustrated story of family hardship and history shows the importance of knowing your roots, the power of memory, and the tendency to keep painful memories hidden. Many kids don't know about the tough times their parents or ancestors experienced, and asWatercressshows, they can find meaning and empathy in those stories. "During the great famine, we ate anything we could find, but it was still not enough."
饥荒不是一个典型的主题一个孩子的照片book, but it's handled with great sensitivity, aided by Jason Chin's soft pastel watercolors and sepia-toned flashbacks. And it features a realistic main character who shows all the grumpiness and skepticism a kid her age might have when her parents throw something out of the ordinary her way. Parents should be prepared to discuss the implication that her mother's little brother, with a "hollow face" and "as thin as a stem of watercress," died of starvation.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the family story of hardship inWatercress. Have you heard stories of difficult times for your parents or relatives? How does that make you feel?
Is there any food that your family eats that holds a special memory for you, your parents, or cargivers?
Have you ever eaten fruit or vegetables picked fresh in the wild, on a farm, or from your own backyard or windowsill planter? Does it taste fresher or better than store-bought?
Book Details
- Author:Andrea Wang
- Illustrator:Jason Chin
- Genre:Picture Book
- Topics:Brothers and Sisters,Great Girl Role Models,History
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher:Neal Porter Books
- Publication date: March 30, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s)： 4- 8
- Number of pages: 32
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Awards:ALA Best and Notable Books,Caldecott Medal and Honors
- Last updated: January 24, 2022
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