Watercress by Andrea Wang
Springfield-Greene County Library's (SGCL) catalog places this item in the Children's Award genre.
Target audience is children ages four to eight, grades kindergarten through first; item will be included in results when searching for themes within juvenile fiction related to harvesting, Chinese Americans, Families, and Ohio.
Watercress is a story involving the blending of two cultures: parents whom escaped persecution in China juxtaposed against second-generation children who possess modern, Westernized customs and cultural perspectives. The plot guides the readers through familial relations while instilling appreciation for past sacrifices in order to secure future generations' welfare, and what role does watercress play?
Watercress featured prominently when searching for Caldecott Winners, and was highly recommended by staff within SGCL's youth services departments.
For this book, I will be evaluating tone, style and language, and illustrations.
The tone displayed throughout is aptly-suited while concurrently demonstrating the author's respect for the characters and culture. Wang accomplishes both objectives while effectively relaying Watercress' themes to readers so they would understand, appreciate, and empathize while being drawn into the story. Famine, death and sacrifice, can be complicated topics for children to comprehend, yet I feel that Wang goes to great efforts to instill an inviting tone inviting children to connect with, and understand the story.
Watercress' style and language involves composing short sentences that morph into brief paragraphs, taking target audiences' attention spans into consideration, while creating a powerful story that young readers can enjoy and learn. I strongly believe that Wang's efforts to compose such a powerful story within a finite amount of space is one of many reasons it received the Caldecott Award.
Chin's illustrations weaved among Wang's words enable readers to connect with the characters while simultaneously experiencing the story. When Wang describes the red, faded Pontiac, readers feel as if they are between the author and her older brother; and when harvesting watercress, one feels the coldness of the water in the creek (Wang, 2021). Personally, the illustrations provided past links with China, the present, in Ohio, and left me wanting to see the future, the next generation.
Wang, A. (n.d.). Watercress book cover. Watercress - Andrea Wang. andreaywang.com. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://andreaywang.com/books/picture-books/watercress/.
Wang, A. (2021). Watercress (J. Chin, Illus.). Holiday House.
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