DRAWING FROM MEMORY by Allen Say

 



    Say, A. (2011). DRAWING FROM MEMORY. Scholastic Press.

 

Top of Form

DRAWING FROM MEMORY is Allen Say's own story of his path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. As a boy, he was shunned by his father, who didn't understand his son's artistic abilities. He was sent off to school in Tokyo where he meets Noro Shinpei, Japan's leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his "spiritual father."  Shinpei takes him under his wing and begins to nurture his talent and love for art. He works hard in rigorous drawing classes, studies, trains, and eventually finds himself in his art.

 The book is Say’s memoir of him growing up in Japan. It includes many of his cartoon drawings, watercolor paintings, vintage photographs, and maps. It demonstrates the real-life relationship between a mentor and his student. The author’s note gives you a look at Say’s life when he is older. He talks about Shinpei and his going back to Japan as an adult, to see him. You can tell that this book means a lot to Say because of his relationship with Shinpei and his love for art.

The book is set in Japan, so it highlights Japanese culture. The markers include some names, places, customs, and political views. The artwork shows Japanese writing, some native dress, and architecture. One point I want to make about the cultural markers is the mixture of the old and new. In some photographs, you see people in traditional Japanese dress. In others, you see the clothes of the era. (1940’s and 1950’s)  I’s as if the modern way is the “American Way” and the old is the “Japanese Way.”  They seem in conflict throughout the book.

One part in the story I want to point out is when the young Allen Say reads comic books to his neighbors. Again, is the conflict between old and new. He reads the children comic books but then compares himself to a “kamishibai man” who is a traveling storyteller with picture cards.

I can’t understand why he burned his sketchbooks. I’m fairly sure that it was symbolic of Say leaving his old life behind and starting a new one in America, but that is like burning your baby pictures.   I couldn’t do it.

 

Booklist Editor’s Choice: Books for Youth, 2011

 

Publisher’s Weekly: “Japan's most famous cartoonist, Noro Shinpei, accepted Say as an apprentice until Say immigrated to the United States in 1953. Say's account of his relationship with Noro (who later called Say "the treasure of my life") is the centerpiece of the narrative. As the story of a young artist's coming of age, Say's account is complex, poignant, and unfailingly honest. Say's fans—and those who also feel the pull of the artist's life—will be captivated. Ages 10–up. (Sept.)

SLJ: “There is a belief amongst parents that graphic novels are a kind of lesser form of literature because there is something about the use of images with words that, when combined, renders both weaker. To people who feel that way I would hand them Say’s memoir. His is a brilliant mixing and melding of the two art forms. And while the pictures, photographs, and cartoons tell a moment in a life well, his words really steal the show.” December 27, 2011, by Elizabeth Bird.

 

Other books by Allen Say:

GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY  ISBN 9780544050501

KAMISHIBAI MAN ISBN  978-0618479542

TEA WITH MILK (RISE AND SHINE) ISBN  978-0547237473

TREE OF CRANES ISBN 978-054724830

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HEART AND SOUL: THE STORY OF AMERICA AND AFRICAN AMERICANS by Kadir Nelson

Image
  Nelson, K. (2011). HEART AND SOUL: THE STORY OF AMERICA AND AFRICAN               AMERICANS. Balzer+Bray.   Nelson begins the story with an introduction that talks about the many triumphs and hardships African Americans have overcome in America. Nelson then writes individual mini-chapters about significant events such as slavery, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, emancipation,  Jim Crow Laws, the Civil Rights Movement, and the vote for women.  Each section discusses significant members of the African American community and their contributions.  The author writes from the perspective of an unnamed narrator and reviews significant events in African American history.  They include the story of Pap “the only Africa-born slave in my family.”  Obviously, Pap is a decedent of the narrator. The book says Pap was captured from his village in 1850 as a child. It tells of his time...
Read more

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Image
          Boulley, A. (2021). FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER.  Henry Holt and Company.   Daunis Fontaine is torn between two worlds and families: her white French/Italian mother’s side and her father’s Ojibwe Firekeeper’s side. Some backstory: Daunis has experienced major loss and grief. Her father died when she was seven years old, her Uncle David (mother’s brother) died just a few months before the story begins, and her grandmother (mother’s mother) had a stroke shortly after Uncle David’s death. Daunis defers her upcoming enrollment at the University of Michigan to stay with her mother, who has taken both losing her brother and her mother’s illness very hard. The beginning of the story has a dark tone. You get a sense that something bad is going on in this community—Daunis’s best friend Lily’s ex-boyfriend is struggling with drugs, there is political unrest as the tribal election is underway, and it isn’t completely clear yet what happened to Uncl...
Read more