Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Bo Jia,
The Trip Back Home.
Harcourt, Inc, 2000

Janet Wong captures the experience of many Korean American families as she takes the reader on a personal journey reconnecting a young daughter and her mother with their homeland. The illustrations and story combine to create an intimate portrait of families reuniting and memories refreshed. From the countryside and common outdoor markets, to traditional homes and cultural gestures, the girl finds great joy and comfort with her close yet distant relatives. One aspect of the book that strikes me as misleading, however, is the clothing. Because the setting is current, the traditional clothing depicted on people in the fields or at the market seems unlikely to be universal, and merely operates as a symbolic difference between the visiting and host relatives. Overall, however, Wong and Jia have produced a beautiful children’s book that many of us can relate to.

Tanya Kim