by Soyung Pak (2002)
This book is written entirely using the imagery of seeds and gardening, but the language weaves in and out of literal and figurative representations. The extended metaphor is tenuous in parts, but the word choice is careful and the overall feel quite dramatic. The story follows a young girl and her father as they plant a garden together in their home in America, but there are also flashbacks as the father tells her daughter of his journey from South Korea. The seed and land imagery are literal as the family plants seeds, as the bright outdoor colors in the illustrations fit nicely with these cheerful moments. The same words become metaphorical as the father tells of his journey "flying with the wind" to the United States, where the illustrations by Marcelino Truong become subdued and darker. I like the play between the images and the words in this text, and I feel older students would also appreciate it.
In the classroom this book could be used to show how extended metaphor is used throughout a text. Parts of the metaphor may be lost on the younger children that this book is intended for, but the overall message about keeping home in your heart no matter how far you fly from home is a universal one. I also feel that introducing the book by showing the inner flap (which reads "A family is like a seed. It needs a good, safe place to grow. Sometimes that place is just a hop away. Sometimes it's a long, hard journey. This book is a tribute to all parents who took that journey in order for their families to blossom") may help younger children think about the metaphors before reading the book in full. This book could also be used to discuss different types of immigrants in the United States -- as I did in a text set about modern immigrant families.
No comments:
Post a Comment