Watercress (Caldecott Medal Winner)

by Andrea Wang, Jason Chin (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Simply stunning. Andrea Wang and Jason Chin’s Watercress is the thought-provoking, gorgeously illustrated story of a first-generation girl coming to terms with, and ultimately celebrating, her Chinese heritage. There is so much to glean from Watercress that you’ll want to read it over and over.

Caldecott Medal Winner
Newbery Honor Book
APALA Award Winner

Gathering watercress by the side of the road brings a girl closer to her family's Chinese Heritage.

New England Book Award Winner
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can.

At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family's time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

Andrea Wang tells a moving autobiographical story of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage, illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, working in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author's note in the back shares Andrea's childhood experience with her parents.


Winner of the Cybils Award
A Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
An ALSC Notable Children's Book
Named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, BookPage, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness, and more!
A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
An NPR 'Book We Love!'
A Horn Book Fanfare Title
A Mighty Girl Best Book of the Year
A Floyd's Pick Honor Book
A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!
A CCBC Choice

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823446247
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	454
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of The Nian Monster and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. She was inspired to write Watercress by her experience growing up in rural Ohio as a child of Chinese immigrants. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in Colorado with her family.

Jason Chin is a celebrated author and illustrator of children's books. His book Grand Canyon was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award. He is the author and illustrator of Your Place in the Universe, which Kirkus called "A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge", as well as other acclaimed nonfiction titles—Coral Reefs, Redwoods, Gravity, and Island: A Story of the Galapagos— which have received numerous starred reviews and other accolades. He is also the illustrator of Stephanie Parsley Ledyard's debut title Pie Is for Sharing and Miranda Paul's Water is Water and Nine Months: Before a Baby is Born, the latter, a Boston Horn Globe Honor Book. He lives in Vermont with his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/08/2021

This multilayered autobiographical narrative illuminates Wang’s experience as a child of Chinese immigrants in Ohio. In spare, elegant free verse, Wang (Magic Ramen) recalls a car ride interrupted when her parents notice watercress in a roadside ditch. “From the depths of the trunk,/ they unearth/ a brown paper bag,/ rusty scissors,” a verso page reads as the parents rummage through their old red Pontiac. Cornstalks transition to bamboo across the page’s gutter as the phrase finishes, “and a longing for/ China” alongside a sepia-washed scene of two children in a Chinese village. Though her older brother readily picks, and subsequently eats, the watercress, the narrator is resistant—until her mother shares an affecting childhood memory that results in a deeper understanding of her family and making “a/ new memory of/ watercress.” Caldecott Honoree Chin (Grand Canyon) employs muted washes of watercolor, using both Chinese and Western brushes to convey moments of memory and heritage. An adept gem of a picture book, encompassing both universal intergenerational embarrassment and a specific diasporic shift in cultural perception. Back matter includes author’s and illustrator’s notes. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Stephen Sheppard, CDAS. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Wang's multilayered, poetic text allows anger, guilt and grief to coexist with love and hope. Chin's captivating watercolor art, executed with a mix of Chinese and Western techniques, combines meticulous, gut-wrenching realism with dreamlike panoramas."—The New York Times

"Children often don’t understand why their parents act as they do; parents often forget to explain. Watercress reminds us of the importance of filling in those gaps."—The Wall Street Journal

"An understated, visually stunning exploration of memory and family history."—The Boston Globe

★ "An adept gem of a picture book"—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★ "Understated, deep, and heart-rending—bring tissues."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "Simple text and beautiful illustrations pack a strong emotional punch . . . A powerful story sure to awaken empathy and ­curiosity"—School Library Journal, Starred Review

★ "this quietly affecting book encourages honesty, communication, and sharing of family history."—The Horn Book, Starred Review

★ "Watercress is a delicate and deeply felt exploration of memory, trauma and family."—BookPage, Starred Review

★ "It’s a deft exploration of the information and emotion gap between parents, especially immigrant parents, and children, and it may give space for kids to learn more about their own family history and customs . . ."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review

★ "Through powerful poetry and exquisite illustrations, the daughter of immigrants relates an emotional childhood memory that opened the door to her Chinese roots."—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

"The story reveals the chasms that can separate first-generation immigrant parents from their Americanized children and how confronting past traumas from another country and time can bring a family closer together. Chin’s illustrations masterfully bring to life the vast cornfields and colors of rural America." —Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2021

PreS-Gr 3—Simple text and beautiful illustrations pack a strong emotional punch in this picture book. Based on the author's own memories of being the child of Chinese immigrants in Ohio, the story follows a young girl who is in the car with her family. They spot watercress growing in a ditch and stop to collect it for their dinner later. The girl refuses to eat it, embarrassed of how they got their food, as well as their used furniture and clothes, believing that "Free is bad." Her parents don't understand her humiliation as she doesn't understand their excitement over the meal. Words are used sparingly; the illustrations complete all that is left unsaid. The most poignant spread is when the girl's mother tells them about their uncle and how there was never enough to eat. On one page, her little brother holds up his empty bowl; on the next, his seat is empty. Readers of various ages will want to discuss the layers of miscommunication between cultures and between generations, and how to be more mindful of others' experiences. But the work is far more than a lesson. A tightly woven piece of story and watercolor art is exemplified in one spread, where the the cornfields of Ohio become the famine-stricken land of China. VERDICT A powerful story sure to awaken empathy and curiosity: Who else left behind a homeland, and at what cost?—Elissa Cooper, Helen Plum Memorial Lib., Lombard, IL

School Library Journal

★ 2020-12-25
A Chinese American family pulls their car over to gather wild watercress growing by the roadside.

As the family sheds their shoes and rolls up their pants to wade into the gully, the narrator of Wang’s poignant free-verse text is anything but happy. Mud squelching between toes, holding a soggy brown bag full of what looks like weeds, the preteen ducks down as a car passes lest their family is recognized. But for Mom and Dad, the moment is emotional. In one exceptional double-page spread Chin paints the faded red 1960s-era car parked on the left, with cornstalks bordering the road transforming into bamboo stalks and a soft-focus sepia-toned image of rural China on the right. “From the depths of the trunk / they unearth / a brown paper bag, / rusty scissors, // and a longing for China,” reads the text. In another, Mom and Dad praise the watercress for being both fresh and free, but to the next generation, “free is / hand-me-down clothes and / roadside trash-heap furniture and / now, / dinner from a ditch.” It isn’t until Mom finally shares the story of her family in China that her child understands the importance of this simple dish of greens, this “delicate and slightly bitter” watercress. Wang’s moving poetry paired with—and precisely laid out on—Chin’s masterfully detailed illustrations capture both an authentic Midwestern American landscape and a very Chinese American family, together infusing a single event with multiple layers laden with emotion, memory, and significance.

Understated, deep, and heart-rending—bring tissues. (author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews