05 Nov / I See the Sun in China by Dedie King, illustrated by Judith Inglese, translation by Yan Zhang
A young girl wakes with excitement, anticipating her early morning ferry ride that will take her from her village to visit her aunt in big-city Shanghai.
At Auntie Yen’s apartment, she eats a “favorite lunch” prepared by Auntie’s cook, then she’s off with Auntie to shop at the Grand Mall, have tea in the park, meet Auntie’s friends for dinner, stroll the Grand Bund, and end their girls’ day out with a foot massage. Returning to Auntie’s apartment, the little girl does her schoolwork, while Auntie “calls her American business partner,” who is just starting his day in Boston. The girl falls asleep remembering her busy day and the many people she met, pondering over “What will I be?”
Satya House Publications – “where ignorance is not bliss, knowledge is” – debuts their I See the Sun series with China. I See the Sun in Nepal is due out this month. “Each book in the … Series will portray the essential cultural elements of one country through the eyes of a child, providing the reader or listener with an understanding of ‘a day in the life’ of that child,” writes Satya publisher Julie Murkette. The book is presented in both English and Mandarin Chinese, and all the forthcoming titles in the series will be bilingual. A glossary of a few potentially ‘foreign’ words – congee and Tai Chi here, for example – plus an abbreviated country guide ends each title.
While the series’ premise is certainly admirable, their execution is not without a few questionable choices. These may be minor quibbles, but I found myself concerned nonetheless.
Neither author Dedie King nor illustrator Judith Inglese seem to have any direct experience in or ties to China, which strikes me as somewhat problematic when introducing Chinese culture to readers. While King was a 1960s Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal and “especially loves the Far East” according to her bio, no mention is made of either King or Inglese as having visited China, nor any of the countries in the forthcoming titles in the series (with the exception of King’s Nepali adventures). The future list is extensive: I See the Sun installments due in 2011 include Afghanistan, India, and Israel/Palestine; titles scheduled for 2012 include Russia, Korea, and Brazil. So I have to ask … is direct cultural experience necessary for authenticity?
As far as cultural accuracy, China’s one-child policy ignominiously remains in place, and continues to cause gender-related imbalances and inequities. The little girl here has a younger brother …
As for the story’s logistical details, I wondered about a young girl traveling alone on a public ferry from a village to a major city. She’s pictured with pigtails and drawn quite a bit shorter/smaller than her Auntie; the series is targeted for children ages 5 and up so the audience is quite young … Would parents anywhere allow such a young girl to travel solo like this?
As for her busy, busy afternoon, if you factor in traffic and other mundane challenges of reality, how could she and Auntie have crammed all that in and still have time to come back and do schoolwork before bed at a reasonable hour for a young girl?
The next book in the series is due out momentarily … I See the Sun in Nepal should be an interesting comparison to China. As noted, the series’ intentions are undoubtedly promising … how the future titles ultimately fare will definitely be worth watching – and reading.
Readers: Children
Published: 2010
The thing is, it wouldn’t be enough to just visit a country to get an understanding of the culture. There are so many nuances you don’t know unless you make friends with people, visit households and work within the country’s various systems. Readers believe if a book is published, it contains accurate information.
In China, many of the youth refer to cousins as ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ but I don’t think that’s what this author intended.
Thanks so much for your comments … see below … the whole I See the Sun Series team weighs in!
The author and illustrator are not casual tourists and have both traveled extensively with a commitment not to create books about countries in which at least one of them has not spent a significant amount of time. We are in agreement: direct cultural experience is absolutely necessary for authenticity. However, for example, an illustrator using photographs, research and discussions with people from each country, can get a pretty good idea of the culture and nature of life. The author and her late husband have very close ties to friends and business associates in China and she has visited them there and stayed in their homes on many occasions.
As such, I would like to clarify a few points. Regarding the One-Child policy: as you know, this is enforced stringently in China, primarily in urban areas. However, in rural communities this policy may (on rare occasions) be applied more leniently, particularly when the first-born is female.
The idea that the child traveled on the ferry alone, and that she and her aunt would visit so many places in one day, yes, is fanciful. However, this a fictional story for children. It is not so far-fetched to portray the variety of activities that can be pursued in Shanghai, particularly when one knows there will be no school the next morning. Poetic license can be applied — it is after all, a story for children, not a textbook.
What we want most is for parents and children to read this book, and the others in our series, and begin talking about not just our cultural differences, but about our basic human similarities as well. With this series, we are starting a conversation, and welcome all participants.
Thank you for this review. I would like to respond to a few of your points. I absolutely agree that for a book like this, one would have to spend time in that country. Over the last 10 years I have gone to China at least half a dozen times for some weeks at a time. My husband did business there and spent about 2 months a year there for the last dozen years. We have many good Chinese friends in Shanghai whom we visit with here and there. In the story the little girl has a brother. It is true that there is a one child policy, but this does not cover all the rural areas. The little girl is from the island of Putuo Shan and is actually loosely based on a real child who does have a sister. I should have explained this in the glossary.
It would be unusual for a small child to ride the ferry by herself, but older children do and she is brought to the ferry by her mother and met by her aunt.
And it is true that it is a full day, but it is a special day, and so is packed as fully as possible. It was on purpose that she did schoolwork, even though it was late and the end of a special day. This was to show the emphasis on excelling academically in Chinese culture. Thank you for the opportunity to explain these points.
I appreciated your review and interest in authenticity. In truth, each book in our series has been critiqued by a person, an inhabitant and native speaker, living in the country that we are portraying. In addition, the author has lived in Nepal and traveled extensively and stayed in homes in China.
Even though I have not been to Nepal and China, I feel competent as the illustrator to capture the nature and flavor of each country. My collage illustrations use photographs, many that my husband took when he was in Shanghai and others from the author’s travels, combined with cut paper and line drawing. The photographs give the illustrations an authenticity. However, the collage medium plays with the reality, provoking the reader’s imagination, which is the delight of children’s books.
Wow … comments from the whole Satya House/I See the Sun Series team!
I did originally have more information (but cut before posting for length) about families in rural areas having more leniency with the one-child policy. However, since the little girl is a ferry-ride from Shanghai (which is brief enough that she does not have any accompanying adult supervision on the actual journey), I felt that her home village could not be very remote, nor rural, given its relative proximity to Shanghai.
Thanks for clarifying, edifying, and starting hopefully many conversations to come.
Looking forward to the next installment in the series.
Mea culpa!! These responses made me realize that it’s just as bad to judge a book without reading it as it is to write about a country without visiting it. I’ll just have to read the book now!
And after you do, please be sure and tell us reactions. And thanks so much for your comments!
Will do!
I bought it, read it and loved it! Wonderful images that support a simply told story! I thought the book did a fantastic job of developing an understanding of another culture rather than creating the need to compare. Well done!
The publisher and creators will be thrilled to hear your reaction, I’m sure! We’ll both be watching for the Nepal title with great interest indeed!
Thanks so much for sharing your comments, as always!