TEA WITH MILK by Allen Say

Say, Allen. Tea with Milk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999.

ISBN: 0-395-90495-1

Plot Summary:

May grows up in California with lots of friends, but when she graduates from high school, her parents decide to move the family back to their native Japan.  In Japan, not only does May, now Masako, have to repeat high school to learn the Japanese language, but she must wear a kimono, sit on the floor for long periods of time and learn how to be a “proper Japanese woman.”  May misses her friends, driving a car, eating American food (including tea with milk instead of green tea) and, most of all, speaking English.  She decides to take matters into her own hands and moves to Osaka and gets a job in a department store working first as an “elevator girl” and then as a guide for the department store’s important business visitors.  She ultimately meets her future husband, Joseph, there and they decide to make a life together in Japan. Only towards the end of the story do readers find out that Allen Say is writing about his mother’s journey as a young girl.

Critical Analysis:

In this beautiful story by Allen Say, he shares the journey his mother made as a young girl, capturing the torn loyalties she felt growing up in America and then moving back to Japan as a teen.  The accurate portrayal of the formal and graceful Japanese lifestyle is conveyed both through words and through elegant watercolor portraits by Allen Say.  The full-page illustrations capture the traditional Japanese dress and customs as well as the depth of emotion as Masako resigns herself to traditional Japanese life.  The disappointment on her face as she first wears a kimono is evident as is the joy on her face when she speaks English at the department store for the first time.  Say does an excellent job of portraying his native Japanese culture with honesty and elegance. 

 

Review Excerpts:

“Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms.” ~Publishers Weekly

“This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own.” ~School Library Journal

“The illustrations capture Masako's unhappiness and also her eventual contentment as she learns to combine two cultures." ~Horn Book

Connections:

**More books by Allen Say:

Grandfather’s Journey

Tree of Cranes

Kamishibai Man

The Bicycle Man

The Boy in the Garden

Home of the Brave

**Books about Japan

All About Japan: Stories, Songs, Crafts and More by Willamarie Moore and Kazumi Wilds

Japan the Land (Lands, Peoples, and Cultures) by Bobbie Kalman

Japan the People (Lands, Peoples, and Cultures) by Bobbie Kalman

Japanese Traditions: Rice Cakes, Cherry Blossoms and Matsuri: A Year of Seasonal Japanese Festivities by Setsu Broderick and Willamarie Moore

**Let the students try traditional Japanese green tea and then black “tea with milk”