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animemiz24's review against another edition
Asian and western interracial family, with parents learning how to eat each other's cultures.
swtmarie's review against another edition
4.0
This is a sweet story about a little girl who tells the story of how her parents got together. The only thing holding them back was their cultural differences in eating with one using chopsticks and the other using a fork and knife. Both secretly learned how to use each utensil so they could finally have dinner together and not be embarrassed. This story slight reminded me of the movie Love Actually, where Jamie, played by Colin Firth, goes to night classes to learn Portuguese to impress Aurelia and she does the same to learn English.
Very cute story!
Very cute story!
bjkatcher's review against another edition
4.0
Sweet story of two people learning each other's culture. There's no one right way to eat.
a_manning11's review against another edition
5.0
A girl explains why her family eats with knife and fork some days and others they use chopsticks. It all comes down to how her parents met in Japan, where her American father was staying as a sailor and her Japanese mother attended school.
Differences and misunderstandings are overcome, and a wish to share in each other's cultures created the girl's family, which is just a little different.
I really enjoyed the story, which could well be an adult novel, too, and Allen Say's illustrations are realistic and beautiful, and capture the story well.
Differences and misunderstandings are overcome, and a wish to share in each other's cultures created the girl's family, which is just a little different.
I really enjoyed the story, which could well be an adult novel, too, and Allen Say's illustrations are realistic and beautiful, and capture the story well.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
4.0
This classic picture book tells the story of an American sailor and a young Japanese woman who fall in love and must navigate insecurities about their cultural barriers. There's a happy ending guaranteed, since the story's framing device involves their future child telling the reader why they sometimes eat with chopsticks at home, and sometimes with forks and knives.
The story is charming and well-researched, conveying Japanese culture in an inviting way. Both of the characters are immediately relatable, since everyone has felt uncertain at times, wanting to impress someone but feeling insecure about something new. Even though the story involves a romance, there are themes that kids can connect with on a personal basis.
I originally read this book six years ago, and I enjoyed it then, but I liked it even better on a second read. This book made such an impression on me that I still distinctly remembered it, despite the hundreds of picture books that I read per year, and it's just as sweet and meaningful as I had remembered. I would highly recommend this book to mixed-race families who share the characters' cultural backgrounds, and to anyone who wants to read a sweet story about love overcoming cultural barriers.
The story is charming and well-researched, conveying Japanese culture in an inviting way. Both of the characters are immediately relatable, since everyone has felt uncertain at times, wanting to impress someone but feeling insecure about something new. Even though the story involves a romance, there are themes that kids can connect with on a personal basis.
I originally read this book six years ago, and I enjoyed it then, but I liked it even better on a second read. This book made such an impression on me that I still distinctly remembered it, despite the hundreds of picture books that I read per year, and it's just as sweet and meaningful as I had remembered. I would highly recommend this book to mixed-race families who share the characters' cultural backgrounds, and to anyone who wants to read a sweet story about love overcoming cultural barriers.
catladybibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
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