Allen Say
Encyclopedia
Allen Say is an Asian American
author and illustrator best known for his book Grandfather's Journey, a picture book detailing his grandfather's voyage from Japan
to the United States
and back again, which won the 1994 Caldecott Medal
. This story is autobiographical, and relates to Say's constant moving during his childhood. His work mainly focuses on Japanese
and Japanese American
characters and their stories, and several works have autobiographical elements.
, Japan
, to a Japanese family: a Japanese American mother and a Korean father who was adopted by British parents and raised in Shanghai. At age 12, four years after his parents' divorce, Say went to live with his grandmother, but received her permission a short time later to live alone. The boy apprenticed himself for many years to his favorite cartoonist, Noro Shinpei, an experience detailed in his autobiographical novel The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice. In time Say came to think of Shinpei as his "spiritual father," as well as a mentor.
When his father decided to move to the United States with his new family, Allan Say was invited to come along. He attended military school for a short time, an experience that was decidedly negative: "I learned bad English from rich juvenile delinquents and developed a lifelong loathing for uniforms and professional soldiers." He was eventually expelled for smoking a cigarette. In the years before becoming a full-time author and illustrator, Say worked as a sign painter and photographer, as well as being drafted into the U.S. Army for a time. While stationed in Germany, his photography was noted and eventually published in the magazine, Stars and Stripes. Upon returning to the United States, he pursued photography as a career choice, but was encouraged to explore his illustrations. He was approached by Houghton Mifflin with a retelling of the Japanese folktake, "The Boy of the Three-Year Nap."
In 1994, fellow children's author Lois Lowry
mentioned Say in her Newbery Award acceptance speech for The Giver
, having discovered the day of the ceremony that in childhood, both authors lived in the same Japanese town, Shibuya
. The two authors spoke for the first time when each autographed a book for the other and she signed hers in Japanese.
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
author and illustrator best known for his book Grandfather's Journey, a picture book detailing his grandfather's voyage from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and back again, which won the 1994 Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
. This story is autobiographical, and relates to Say's constant moving during his childhood. His work mainly focuses on Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
and Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
characters and their stories, and several works have autobiographical elements.
Biographical information
Allen Say was born in YokohamaYokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, to a Japanese family: a Japanese American mother and a Korean father who was adopted by British parents and raised in Shanghai. At age 12, four years after his parents' divorce, Say went to live with his grandmother, but received her permission a short time later to live alone. The boy apprenticed himself for many years to his favorite cartoonist, Noro Shinpei, an experience detailed in his autobiographical novel The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice. In time Say came to think of Shinpei as his "spiritual father," as well as a mentor.
When his father decided to move to the United States with his new family, Allan Say was invited to come along. He attended military school for a short time, an experience that was decidedly negative: "I learned bad English from rich juvenile delinquents and developed a lifelong loathing for uniforms and professional soldiers." He was eventually expelled for smoking a cigarette. In the years before becoming a full-time author and illustrator, Say worked as a sign painter and photographer, as well as being drafted into the U.S. Army for a time. While stationed in Germany, his photography was noted and eventually published in the magazine, Stars and Stripes. Upon returning to the United States, he pursued photography as a career choice, but was encouraged to explore his illustrations. He was approached by Houghton Mifflin with a retelling of the Japanese folktake, "The Boy of the Three-Year Nap."
In 1994, fellow children's author Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s...
mentioned Say in her Newbery Award acceptance speech for The Giver
The Giver
The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life...
, having discovered the day of the ceremony that in childhood, both authors lived in the same Japanese town, Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
. The two authors spoke for the first time when each autographed a book for the other and she signed hers in Japanese.
Quotation
A good story should alter you in some way; it should change your thinking, your feeling, your psyche, or the way you look at things. A story is an abstract experience; it's rather like venturing through a maze. When you come out of it, you should feel slightly changed.Selected Bibliography
- The Boy of the Three Year Nap (illustrations)
- The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice
- The Bicycle Man
- Tree of Cranes
- Tea with Milk
- Grandfather's JourneyGrandfather's JourneyGrandfather's Journey is a book by Allen Say. Released by Houghton Mifflin, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1994. The story is based on Say's grandfather's voyage from Japan to the United States and back again.-Plot:...
- Emma's Rug
- The Sign Painter
- El Chino
- Music for Alice
- The Lost Lake
- Erika-san
- Kamishibai Man