Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias, Tracy Subisak Published by Bloomsbury Children's Books on January 25, 2022
Pages: 40
Goodreads
A delightful story of a child's visit to a grandmother and home far away, and of how families connect and love across distance, language, and cultures.
Kylie is nervous about visiting her grandmother-her Amah-who lives SO FAR AWAY.
When she and Mama finally go to Taipei, Kylie is shy with Amah. Even though they have spent time together in video chats, those aren't the same as real life. And in Taiwan, Kylie is at first uncomfortable with the less-familiar language, customs, culture, and food. However, after she is invited by Amah-Lái kàn kàn! Come see!-to play and splash in the hot springs (which aren't that different from the pools at home), Kylie begins to see this place through her grandmother's eyes and sees a new side of the things that used to scare her. Soon, Kylie is leading her Amah-Come see! Lái kàn kàn!-back through all her favorite parts of this place and having SO MUCH FUN! And when it is time to go home, the video chats will be extra special until they can visit faraway again.
Backmatter includes author and illustrator notes and a guide to some of the places and foods explored in Taiwan.
I quickly have to thank Bloomsbury Children Books for granting me early access to read and review this book.
This was such a beautiful children’s picture book. The illustrations were pretty.
Kylie and her grandmother, Amah have weekly video chats because of the distance between them. Kylie is in San Francisco and Amah is in Taipei. Every year Kylie and her mom travel to Taipei to visit and every year Kylie is nervous and excited to see her grandmother. At first, she is always nervous and shy when she sees her but as the days progress she starts warming up to her grandmother. The grandmother leads the way until one day Kylie starts to lead the way.
This was a beautiful story that is so real to so many kids with families who live far away and they don’t see each other in person very often. Yes, we can talk online but when you first see them in person it’s nerve-wracking and it’s okay to be shy at first. then gradually we open up and have fun with them.
I loved that at the end of the book the author included a note from herself and the illustrator. The author also talks about the places they visited in the book as well as the food.
Definitely a great picture book to pick up if you have family who lives far away.