Watercress by Andrea Wang

 A young girl is driving along a country road in Ohio with her parents and her older brother. They are in the family's old red Pontiac. Suddenly her mother spots watercress in the ditch beside the talk stalks of corn. They stop and out of the car trunk, comes a brown paper bag and rusty scissors. Her parents are remembering a time in China.

The young girl and her brother are told to remove their sneakers and socks, roll up their jeans and help them gather the watercress. The water is cold and the mud squelches between her toes. As they gather bags of the small plant, the young girl hopes no one sees her in the ditch with her family. Her brother shoves some watercress, dripping muddy water and snails near her face.

At home that night, a dish of watercress is served for dinner but the young girl refuses to eat it. Her parents try to convince her to try it, but to the young girl anything different is bad.

 The young girl's mom shows her an old photo of her family, her China family. She never talks about her family. She points to her young brother, the girl's uncle and for the first time speaks about her family in China. During the great famine, they ate whatever they could find. But it was not enough, and her young brother died. Looking at the picture of her uncle who never survived and at the watercress, the young girl is ashamed of being ashamed of her family. And so, she makes a decision.

Discussion

Watercress is a story based on author, Andrea Wang's experiences as a child of Chinese immigrants growing up in a town in Ohio. In her poignant "A Note From The Author" at the back of the book, Wang writes that she "was very aware of how different my family and I were from everyone else. It's hard to feel like you don't belong, and collecting food from a muddy roadside ditch just made that bad feeling more intense for me -- something my very practical parent's didn't understand." Wang writes that her parents didn't talk about their life in China and the hardships they experienced during war. At the same time, she feels it's important for children to know their heritage.One way to learn this is through the memories parents offer. These memories, according to Wang, "...have the power to inform, to inspire, and to heal."

This simple story is full of meaning, rich with the power memories have. This is captured so beautifully by the expressive artwork of illustrator Jason Chin. The illustrations are rendered using watercolour on 140 pound cold press Saunders watercolor paper. In his "A Note From The Artist", Chin writes that he chose the medium of watercolour which is common to both Chinese and Western art. He writes that his colour palette and technique were also carefully chosen to reflect the themes in the story. In an attempt to "add another layer to Andrea's remarkable story", Chin "drew on my own memories of exclusion, loss, and guilt". He has succeeded admirably. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this exceptional picture book, is the ability of the illustrations to convey these exact emotions so deeply and purely.The reader experiences the shame, the anger and the guilt of the young girl as she struggles to come to terms with her identity and her heritage. Highly recommended.

Book Details:

Watercress by Andrea Wang
New York: Holiday House    2021

Sugar In Milk by Thrity Umrigar

When the young girl first came to America she felt so alone.Her auntie and uncle did all they could to make her feel welcome. They painted her bedroom purple and filled it with books and toys.But the young girl missed her friends and her mother and father and her cats, Kulfi and Baklava. While her auntie and uncle were at work, the young girl was left alone in her room. She longed to make new friends and felt overwhelmed with loneliness. One day while on a walk, Auntie told her a story:

In ancient Persia, there lived a group of people who were forced to leave and seek refuge in another country. They built several boats and sailed to India where they begged to be given shelter. However, the local king refused because he felt that his land was too crowded  and because they looked different and spoke a different language. So the king went to the seashore and ordered the Persian travellers to leave. However, because they did not speak the same language, these newcomers did not understand. To show them what he meant he ordered his servant to bring him an empty glass and milk. The king filled the glass to the brim with milk. This was his way of telling them that his kingdom was filled with people and that there was no room for the newcomers. 

The Persian travellers were tired and hungry and disappointed to be turned away. But their leader, who was very wise, had a plan. And that plan involved a teaspoon of sugar.

The wise Persian leader mixed the sugar into the milk without spilling a single drop of milk. His message to the king was that they would live in peace and sweeten the live of the people of India.

The king understood, and joyfully welcomed the Persians. And they kept their promise.

When Auntie was done her story, the young girl's outlook had changed. She began to smile at people on the street and in return they smiled back. It wasn't long before she began to feel less lonely and more like America was her new home.

Discussion

Sugar In Milk retells an ancient Persian legend in the Parsis, descendants of the followers of Zoroaster were allowed to settle in India.

Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion that was founded in the 6th century B.C. The descendants of Zoroastrian Iranian immigrants are known as Parsis.

Iran was conquered by Arab Muslims in 651 A.D. At first they tolerated the Zoroastrian religion but this began to change in the 7th and 8th centuries when various limits were placed on the faith. this resulted in many Zoroastrian's fleeing to the Gujarat region of India. There the local ruler, Jadhav Rana, concerned that his area might become overwhelmed, presented a cup of milk filled to the brim, to the Parsi priest. The message was that there was no room in his country for these newcomers. Undaunted, the Parsi priest put sugar into the milk, indicating that his people could sweeten the country while not displacing those already there. Jadhav Rana agreed to allow the Parsi exiles to settle in the area with certain conditions. They had to wear the local dress, respect his people's culture and learn the local language.

In Sugar in Milk, the lesson Auntie is attempting to explain to the young girl is that she has something to offer to America and that her presence in her new country is like the sugar in the milk: it will sweeten the culture, adding something to it. Accompanying the story are the exquisite digital illustrations which capture the Persian element of the legend. Many of the illustrations, created by illustrator Khoa Le, who lives in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam incorporate images of the peacock or peacock feathers, a prominent motif in Persian art.

Sugar In Milk is a beautiful picture book based on an interesting Persian legend with captivating illustrations that teaches the important lessons of acceptance and understanding.

Book Details:

Sugar In Milk by Thrity Umrigar
New York: Running Press Kids     2020