CCBC Booklists

CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

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Ojiichan's Gift

by Chieri Uegaki

CCBC Review:

Mayumi visits her grandfather in Japan for two months every summer, helping him care for the rock garden he made when she was born. “She learned that moss on a rock was a gift of time … And that clipping shrubs to look like clouds was the best of all reasons to prune.” Back home, her small tin of keepsakes— leaves, pinecones, a stone—helps her remember their time together. Then comes a visit when it seems everything has changed—Ojiichan is in a wheelchair, unable to care for the neglected garden. Mayumi takes her upset and anger out on the garden until an idea blossoms—a way Mayumi can keep herself and Ojiichan connected to the garden and each other. A lyrical narrative of keen detail and emotional grace offers readers and listeners opportunities to relate and reflect as it reveals how Mayumi’s connection to her grandfather and his garden are things she carries inside her, in addition to inside her small, tangible box of memories. Mayumi is biracial (Japanese/white) in this story supported with lovely watercolor illustrations. ©2020 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Illustrated by Genevieve Simms

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 5-8
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: Change Families Feelings/Emotions Grandfathers Japanese and Japanese Americans Memory Multiracial Characters/Families
Diversity subject: Asian
On CCBC Booklists: Global Reading: Selected Books for Children and Teens Set in Other Countries Asian in America: Selected Books for PreK-Grade 12 to Support Hmong and Asian American Studies in Wisconsin

Publisher: Kids Can
Publish Year: 2019
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9781771389631
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Uegaki

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