At home in San Francisco, May speaks Japanese and the family eats rice and miso soup and drinks green tea. When she visits her friends' homes, she ...
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Jan 25, 2009
Lynne
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In Tea with milk, Allen Say speaks eloquently about the cross cultural conflict between traditional Japanese values and American values.
Using his trademark beautiful watercolor images to support the text, Say tells the story of a young girl, May, who was raised in San Francisco but moves to Japan with her mother and father who are returning home. Young May struggles to find her place in her parents’ home and finally makes a friend who is enduring a similar struggle. Say surprises More...
Using his trademark beautiful watercolor images to support the text, Say tells the story of a young girl, May, who was raised in San Francisco but moves to Japan with her mother and father who are returning home. Young May struggles to find her place in her parents’ home and finally makes a friend who is enduring a similar struggle. Say surprises More...
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Oct 27, 2011
Jordan
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This book is my book for Asian/Pacific group. I really enjoyed reading this story. It is told from May's daughters point of view, but you do not find that out until the last page. May was born and raised in the United States. She was adopted but when her birth mother wants to move back to Japan, May feels like a foreigner, and others see her as that as well as they call her "Gaijin." She is different from the others in that country because she is used to the USA's way of life. She want
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Mar 24, 2011
Dolly
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As I was reading this story, it seemed so familiar, as if I had read it before. Perhaps I have; my memory is not perfect. But what I think triggered the memory was the fact that I had also read Grandfather's Journey, which is a nice companion to this book. The illustrations are wonderful and I love that Allen Say put so much of his family's history into his stories. The story was filled with mixed emotions and conflicting desires, which is pretty complex for a children's picture book. I lov
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Jan 29, 2011
Leane
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"Tea With Milk" is the story of a young Japanese American girl named May who grows up in America. She experiences both Japanese and American culture as she eats rice and drinks green tea for breakfast at home and eats pancakes and drinks tea with milk at her friends' houses. When now eighteen-year-old May's parents decide to return to Japan, May finds herself immersed in a totally new culture where she is made to wear an uncomfortable kimono, practice calligraphy, and settle for skip
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Sep 04, 2011
Heather
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Since I've also read Grandfather's Journey, it was really neat to see another part of Allen Say's family story, this time about his mother and father. Having lived in Japan as a European-American, I can't imagine what it would have been like for a Japanese-American to return there after having grown up in the U. S. in the 1930's. After reading Say's mother's story, I think she was pretty brave to have stayed there. Even though it's historical, I think it would be a good read for anybody exper
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Oct 31, 2011
Karla
rated it:
International: Asian/Pacific
The photograph like illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful. The story is a touching one about the blending of cultures which is something that an increasing number of students are being forced to do as the world becomes a more global place. The book stresses the idea that home is not a location or "a place or a building that's ready-made and waiting for you." I think the story is a good one for international students coming to Amer More...
The photograph like illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful. The story is a touching one about the blending of cultures which is something that an increasing number of students are being forced to do as the world becomes a more global place. The book stresses the idea that home is not a location or "a place or a building that's ready-made and waiting for you." I think the story is a good one for international students coming to Amer More...
Jan 04, 2010
Helen
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Ma-Chen grows up near San Francisco. She has always wanted to go to San Francisco and her father promises that one day he will take her there. But her parents are homesick for Japan and after she graduates high school they decide to return to their homeland.
But May, as she is called in America, is unfamiliar with ways and traditions of Japan. Worst of all she must return to high school to learn her own language. Everyone calls her 'gaijin' or foreigner.
Her whole life More...
But May, as she is called in America, is unfamiliar with ways and traditions of Japan. Worst of all she must return to high school to learn her own language. Everyone calls her 'gaijin' or foreigner.
Her whole life More...
Nov 11, 2010
Esther
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Published in 1999 by Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books
Interest Level: 5th-8th Grade
The story of Allen Say's mother is a compelling, heartfelt story about immigration, culture-clashes, assimilation, and the meaning of "home". Through the depictions of May otherwise known as Masako and her cross-cultural experiences, the reader is transported to another time period and culture where being an independent woman was a much more difficult task than imagined. Contrasting More...
Interest Level: 5th-8th Grade
The story of Allen Say's mother is a compelling, heartfelt story about immigration, culture-clashes, assimilation, and the meaning of "home". Through the depictions of May otherwise known as Masako and her cross-cultural experiences, the reader is transported to another time period and culture where being an independent woman was a much more difficult task than imagined. Contrasting More...
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Apr 09, 2009
Julie
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Jan 23, 2012
Evelyn
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Tea with Milk is a great book about a young Japanese girl named May who is from America and has to move to Japan. May feels out of place in Japan and wishes to come back to America. This book could be used in a multicultural class to talk about the differences between the Japanese culture and the American culture. It's also a good book because it isn't from the perspective of someone moving to America, it's from the perspective of an American moving to another country and their experience there.
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Jan 30, 2010
Samantha
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This book was very eye opening for me. Consider feeling like an outsider in a place where people assume you should fit in. This book would help someone feel as though they were not alone in feeling like a cultural outsider. The story and the images balanced each other well. The illustrations held a lot of emotion in their stillness. I also felt that the complex feelings of being an outsider would be accessible to anyone reading this book. It could help children get a better understanding that pe
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Sep 28, 2010
Carol
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Grade Level: 2-5
Published:
This is a great story about immigration and moving from one country to another. In this case she was born in America, but her family moves back to Japan and she feels very left out because even though she looks like she belongs, her culture and language are completely different and she is treated differently by other students in her school. She had many American customs that she had adopted from living in America, but her parents did not think through More...
Published:
This is a great story about immigration and moving from one country to another. In this case she was born in America, but her family moves back to Japan and she feels very left out because even though she looks like she belongs, her culture and language are completely different and she is treated differently by other students in her school. She had many American customs that she had adopted from living in America, but her parents did not think through More...
Oct 06, 2009
Katie
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The book Tea with Milk has a very consistent pattern. Each page has a page with words with a border around them and then a picture with a border around it. It is very easy to read because you can find the words easily. The pictures look like they are photographs. They look like people took pictures of what was going on at that time period. The color is very low intensity. All the colors are really plain and dull. Value of the picture is very dark colored. It makes the pictures look like it is a
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Jan 22, 2011
Erika
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I really liked this story! A young Japanese girl has to move back to Japan with her family after graduating high school and her life is not turning out the way she wants it to. She goes out on her own and makes a way for herself. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is charming and believable. I can imagine using this book at many grade levels because the story is one that I think people can connect with for many reasons.
Apr 08, 2011
Jayna
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I thought this was a heartfelt story about changes we all face and how to deal with those changes. This book is about an American born Japanese girl who is forced to return to Japan with her parents where she has to leave behind the things she loved in order to embrace the dominating culture for Japanese women. It follows her struggle to find a place to call home when she meets a man from similar circumstances.
Feb 16, 2011
Jamie
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I remember meeting Allen Say years ago and not knowing anything about his books, besides the fact that they were beautiful. I read Tea With Milk and Grandfather's Journey in one go. I was knocked out by how good they were, especially together. Tea with Milk is an especially good look at how people respond to location, and how to find where you belong, as opposed to where everyone thinks you should be.
Feb 11, 2011
Emma
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It was a spontaneous book of ironic "Deja vu". A little Japanese american goes to Japan at a young age and doesn't feel at home at all, even though her parents are happy. Eventually, she learns to work in Japan,in which many women don't work at all! Since she speaks English, she finds a nice job based off and can support herself. This is her emotional story, rewritten to be a classic.
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Nov 09, 2010
Elizabeth
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I really liked this book. It was so detailed and emotional with different feelings of the character. The main character of this book is Masako and she is a Japanese girl who was born in San Fransico. She had finished high school and now her parents got homesick. Masako is forced to go to back to her national home. Now she is living a whole new life were she realizes something important.
Oct 30, 2011
Jill
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Interesting story of the author's mother who was born and raised in America before her parents decided to return to Japan to turn her into a proper Japanese lady and find her a husband. She is unhappy with the change and doesn't feel that she can be herself in her parents' homeland, until she goes off on her own and provides for herself. The illustrations are beautiful.
Apr 12, 2011
Amy
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Genre: Historical fiction, picture book
Beautifully written and illustrated tale of a Japanese girl moved back to Japan after growing up in America. The story touches on the feelings of being an outsider and wanting to do more than what is traditionally expected. Children will enjoy the details of the story and illustrations that make this story come to life.
Beautifully written and illustrated tale of a Japanese girl moved back to Japan after growing up in America. The story touches on the feelings of being an outsider and wanting to do more than what is traditionally expected. Children will enjoy the details of the story and illustrations that make this story come to life.
Nov 09, 2010
Richard
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This book is really inspiring to me because it shows me that no matter how much someone may not like who you are don't let anyone change you to someone you don't want to be. I really enjoyed this book a lot because it was really interesting to me how the main character Masako stood up to her gardians and making a better advocate to herself
Nov 09, 2010
Stefanie
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I thought this was an OK book, It kept jumping from text to text and it was a bit confusing. It was mainly about this girl who doesn't feel like she fits in with her culture since she doesnt even know how to speak their language, so she just travels to another place and gets a job leaving everything behind her.
Nov 09, 2010
Jakub
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i think that this book was O.K. It was about a Japanese girl who moved from the U.S. to Japan with her parents against her will. She wanted to stay in the U.S. because she wanted to be a city girl. When she got older, she moved away from her parents into a city. Overall I though it was boring but thats my opinion.
Nov 09, 2010
Rafael
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I think this book was good because it showed how a girl faces a trouble in Japan. She goes to Japan because her parents are homesick and wanted to go back to japan. there she has to go back to school and do everything else all over again. She has to learn a language and their cultures because she doesn't know it.
Jun 08, 2010
M
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This book tells the story of the author's parents. Her mother was raised in San Francisco, but her grandparents moved the family to Japan when she was in high school. Mom, of course, didn't fit in and missed American culture. I liked that she wanted to have a job in a time that most women didn't work.
Jan 20, 2012
Hatka
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The book Tea with Milk by Allen Say focuses on differences between Japanese and American cultures. the book serves as a good tool to use with non-native students who may have entered a new classroom for the first time. The book also focuses on the customs within American and Japanese cultures.
Aug 02, 2010
Lobstergirl
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Allen Say tells, in simple language, the story of his American-educated Japanese mother returning to Japan, adopting the clothing and manners of a traditional Japanese woman, and her parents' attempt to arrange a marriage for her. (It doesn't work.) Say's watercolor illustrations are lovely.
Jul 19, 2010
Jennifer
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A fantastic book to read when studying immigration, cultural differences or gender roles (or all three!). The story and the illustrations are beautiful and touching and can be used to kickstart a book club meeting or group discussion during class.
Feb 13, 2011
Gabrielle
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This book was an entertaining book about this lady who who has to move to japan and is in a arranged marriage then she has to learn japanese and find a living at the end she does it anyways with help of a young man. I loved this book and I think you will to.
Feb 09, 2012
Paul
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Great expansive drawings and faces with feeling, Say captures the unexpected twists and turns of a woman finding her way to being herself, both as Japanese where she returned with her parents after growing up in America.
