Tea with Milk Book Review by Allen Say


Written and Illustrated by Allen Say

Published by Clarion Books in 2009

ISBN: 978-0547237473

Plot Summary: May is the author's mother and this book tells that story of her life that is split between two countries and how that causes a great amount of strife and stress in her life. Masako (her Japenese name) spent her formative years growing up in the U.S. but after graduating high school her family moves back to Japan and she must go with them. She is not used to the customs of Japan but after being set up with a matchmaker, she is able to find her own partner where she creates a home in Yokohama with Joseph her husband. 

Critical Analysis: This book is a very well written memoir of Allen Say's mother and the choices that she faced growing up in the U.S. and then abruptly moving to Japan with her parents after high school. The character is shown as a little girl through the story eating traditional Japanese foods as well as eating food that was culturally normal for the U.S. and the people that lived there at the time. Masako is forced to go to high school again to please her parents so that she can learn the Japanese language better. The environment of the story is culturally accurate as Masako learns about calligraphy, floral arrangement, and how to provide tea service. 

    The cultural details are present as the family is the main force of the story and arranged marriage through a matchmaker is also something that is a part of the culture at the time. Masako faces many challenges with assimilating back into a culture that she doesn't recognize as she hasn't spent much time in Japan. She does find things that are familiar to her in the mall but the rest of her surroundings are not things that she is familiar with. Masako struggles with the conformity of Japanese culture for women but she wants to blaze her own trail based on what she has seen in America. Say does a great job bringing out many different emotions and feelings through his illustrations and pictures that he gives us through his watercolors. Each scene is well chosen and painted and it brings the story to life through his skill with the watercolor medium.  

Review: Kirkus

In describing how his parents met, Say continues to explore the ways that differing cultures can harmonize; raised near San Francisco and known as May everywhere except at home, where she is Masako, the child who will grow up to be Say’s mother becomes a misfit when her family moves back to Japan. Rebelling against attempts to force her into the mold of a traditional Japanese woman, she leaves for Osaka, finds work as a department store translator, and meets Joseph, a Chinese businessman who not only speaks English, but prefers tea with milk and sugar, and persuades her that “home isn’t a place or a building that’s ready-made or waiting for you, in America or anywhere else.” 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. A stately cousin to Ina R. Friedman’s How My Parents Learned To Eat (1984), also illustrated by Say. (Picture book. 7-9)

Connection: Watch a short video clip about Allen Say’s life that includes an interview with him, as well as family photos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP0fY5BUrqA.

More Books by Allen Say

Grandfather's Journey: A Caldecott Award Winner ISBN 9780547076805

The Bicycle Man (Sandpiper) ISBN 978-0395506523


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