Watercress by Andrea Wang: "a love letter and an apology"

 

(image taken from Goodreads)

Watercress by Andrea Wang: "a love story and an apology"

Caldecott Award winner 2022

Asian /Pacific American Award for Literature for Picture Book 2022

What's it About?

From the backseat of her car, an important lesson about family history and culture arises. As the young Chinese American girl collects watercress from a ditch embarrassment arises and having to eat it for dinner makes it even worse. Learning her family's story from her mom gives way to wanting to be like everyone else and gives watercress a new meaning. 

Interested in more information on this title?

Goodreads: Watercress by Andrea Wang

Reaction:

Watercress is an emotional story of a little girl who learns an important lesson about her family and how who she is, is nothing to be embarrassed about. As children, many of us have time when the things our parents did embarrass us. The world our parents know is marked with experiences and memories we know nothing about and as we grow and learn to understand those things we become more and more connected to who we are. Andrea Wang presents this sentiment in a touching way, highlighting things lost when families come to a new world. 

Andrea Wang describes Watercress as a "love letter and an apology." This autobiographical story presents a touching moment with her family where she learns an emotional lesson about her mom. Her mom's revelation leads to a deeper understanding and compassion for her family and builds new connections to her history. She beautifully weaves the emotion of her experience into the story of picking watercress on the side of the road and eating it for dinner.

Jason Chin illustrates the story by mirroring the tone and mood of Wang's story. Underwhelmed at first by the appeal of the cover illustration that seemed unmatched by many of the “popular” book covers with flashy colors, fonts, and cartoon-like illustrations that tend to attract and draw in young readers, this book was originally left on the back burner. Finally picking this book up, honestly because of its status on award lists, I was touched by the theme of the story and its connection to a part of history that many people may not recognize. Watching the character connect to her family’s history and the sadness connected to that history it became clear how the illustrations in this book could lead to a Caldecott award. 

While it may, in my opinion, have trouble gaining recognition from a child audience (that doesn’t have a connection to the story) the illustrations surely mimic the tone and provide an appropriate illustration of the story, theme, and concept. It's definitely something to expose young readers to and sends a positive message about understanding and recognizing that our history is an important part of who we are and being proud of the struggles that make us who we are.

For more on Andrea Wang click here.

For what Jason Chin says about Watercress, click here.