The Wakame Gatherers

The Wakame Gatherers
By Holly Thompson (Author) Kazumi Wilds (Illustrator)
The granddaughter Nanami serves as the narrator and translator between her two grandmothers throughout this story. The journey begins with Gram coming from Maine to visit and experience Japan for the first time.
While in Japan, Baachan takes her granddaughter and Gram to the bay to gather Wakame, a type of seaweed that grows plentiful there. Throughout the day as the three enjoy their time on their adventure they also get to learn about each other through stories they share. The Gram from Maine also has seaweed available to her back home in the bay, near her town in Maine. This very topic of seaweed and its purposes serves initially as the vehicle that allows the exploration of the two different cultures and their differences and similarities.
As an educator of English as Second Language Students, I liked that the author included a glossary in the book for the Japanese words, pronunciation, and meaning. I wish the pronunciation would have been in parenthesis right next to the word for smoother reading.
The illustrations are beautiful and also informative in terms of aiding students with vocabulary.
I would use this book in the classroom in particular in a unit on China and Japan. But it is also a book I would like to have in my classroom with many of my other books because it represents and shows diversity in culture and how people exist and can co-exist peacefully. Additionally, I think this book would be terrific for my second language learners to have access to as well because many of them will be able to relate to the “role” of being the translator in the family and sometimes in the classroom for fellow students too!
World War II is alluded to in the story, but at the primary level I don’t know how much detail I would go into with 2nd grade students.
Recommended for: Grades 1-3
Reviewed by: Anne M. Haggerty
1/18/17