Title: This is illustrator''' Allen Say
1This is illustrator...Allen Say
An Illustrator Assignment By Todd Phillips
2Biographical Information
- Allen Say was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1937.
His father, a Korean orphan raised by a British
family in Shanghai, and his mother, a Japanese
American born in Oakland, California, divorced
when Say was eight. The family separated, Say
living unhappily with his father and his sister
living with their mother. When Allen was twelve,
he was enrolled in Aoyama Gakuin in Tokyo and
sent to live with his maternal grandmother. Since
his relationship with his grandmother was no
better than that with his father, the two
negotiated an agreement that Say would live by
himself in an apartment closer to the school.
During this time, Say apprenticed himself to Noro
Shinpei, a cartoonist whom he greatly admired.
This period marked the beginning of his serious
training in the arts and was to prove pivotal in
Say's life, as documented in his words in The
Ink-Keeper's Apprentice. - When Say turned sixteen, his budding career in
art was abruptly cut short. His father, dismayed
by the lack of opportunities in postwar Japan,
decided to move to America. He had by that time
acquired a new family, but asked Say if he would
like to emigrate as part of that family. Say left
Tokyo, and with no knowledge of English but with
a sense of adventure traveled to California. To
his dismay, his father had arranged for him to be
enrolled in the Harding Military Academy in
Glendora, California, a dusty forty miles from
where his father settled with the rest of his
family, in Long Beach. As the only nonwhite
student in the military school (and one who was
half Japanese and half Korean in postwar
California), Say was received as one would
expect. He was segregated from the student body
and given his own private quarters in a modified
storage room. After a year at Harding, Say was
expelled for smoking cigarettes in his room, and,
with nowhere else to turn, he walked to the city
of Azusa and enrolled himself at Citrus Union
High School. There he was encouraged to pursue
his art. He attended a special weekend arts
program at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles
(now Cal Arts in Valencia) and classes at Art
Center College of Design in Los Angeles (now in
Pasadena). After graduation, Say went back to
Japan, vowing never to return to America, but
after a year in a much changed Japan, he returned
and worked as an apprentice to a sign painter.
Finding little satisfaction in painting other
people's ideas, he quit, got married, and moved
to northern California, where he enrolled in the
University of California at Berkeley as an
architectural student. In July 1962, Say's
student deferment was revoked owing to a
technicality and he was drafted into the army.
His next two years were spent in Germany, and
after his work caught the eye of a commanding
officer, he published his first work in
photography in the newspaper Stars and Stripes. - When he returned to California, he pursued the
idea of commercial photography as a career. Say's
work brought him in contact with art directors
and designers, who were often impressed with his
ability to sketch out ideas before committing
them to film. It was the encouragement of these
people that led Say to freelance as an
illustrator. His first book, Dr. Smith's Safari
(Harper Row), was published in 1972. For the
next ten years, Say continued to alternate
writing and illustrating with his photography. In
1979, Say published his only novel to date, The
Ink-Keeper's Apprentice, which is essentially an
autobiography of the period when he realized he
wanted to be an artist. In 1984, Say illustrated
How My Parents Learned to Eat, written by Ina R.
Friedman, but, discouraged by the color
reproduction, he vowed to quit illustrating
altogether. - Walter Lorraine, an editor at Houghton Mifflin
Company, can be credited with bringing Say back
to the career that would eventually become his
life's work. In 1988, Lorraine approached Say
with a story written by Dianne Snyder, The Boy of
the Three-Year Nap, which was a retelling of an
old Japanese folktale. Lorraine tempted Say with
the finest color reproduction possible, and,
though reluctant, Say accepted the job and began
to work on the book that was to change his life.
Published in 1988, The Boy of the Three-Year Nap
won a Caldecott Honor Award and the Boston
GlobeHorn Book Award. That same year, Allen Say
quit photography completely and dedicated himself
to writing and illustrating books for children.
In addition to exploring his own life and
memories, Say has written on a wide range of
subjects, such as overcoming cultural and
physical stereotypes (El Chino) a search for a
lost paradise (Lost Lake) a story about agism
and aging (Stranger in the Mirror) an
exploration of the source of the creative impulse
(Emma's Rug) and an adopted child's questions
about belonging (Allison). Tree of Cranes,
Grandfather's Journey (winner of the 1994
Caldecott Medal), Tea with Milk, and The Sign
Painter are the most autobiographical of his
works. - In 2000, the Japanese American National Museum in
Los Angeles held the first retrospective of Say's
work in children's literature. Fifty-five of his
original drawings and paintings were featured
along with original sketchbooks and
autobiographical artifacts.
- from publishers website Adapted from a
biographical profile by Maria Kwong for
Distinguished Asian American Artists and
Musicians, by Brian T. Niiya and Elisa Kamimoto,
to be published by Greenwood Publishing Group,
Westport, CT, 2002.
3A Bibliography of Selected Works
Illustrated by Allen Say Brow, T. Say, A.
(illustrator) (1981). The secret cross of
Lorraine. Boston Houghton Mifflin. Bunting, E.
Say, A. (illustrator)(1978). Magic and the
night river. New York Harper Row. Everson,
W. Say, A. (photographer) (1968). A canticle to
waterbirds by Brother Antoninus. Berkeley, CA
Eizo. Friedman, I. R. Say, A. (illustrator)
(1990). How my parents learned to eat. Boston
Houghton Mifflin. Lawson, A. Say, A.
(illustrator)(1980). The lucky yak. Boston
Houghton Mifflin. Snyder, D. Say, A.
(illustrator) (1988). The boy of the three year
nap. Boston Houghton Mifflin.
- This section will be separated into two
categories those works which Allen Say has
illustrated for others and those works of which
he is the author and illustrator.
4A Bibliography of Selected Works (continued)
- As Author and Illustrator
-
- Say, A. (1972). Dr. Smiths safari. New York
Harper Row. -
- Say, A. (1976). The feast of lanterns. New York
Harper Row. -
- Say, A. (1982). The bicycle man. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1988). A river dream. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1989). The lost lake. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1990). El Chino. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1991). Tree of cranes. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1993). Grandfathers Journey. Boston
Houghton Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1994). The inn-keepers apprentice.
Boston Houghton Mifflin.
5A Bibliography of Selected Works (continued)
- Say, A. (1995). Stranger in the mirror. Boston
Houghton Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1996). Emmas rug. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. - Say, A. (1997). Allison. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1997). Under the cherry blossom tree.
Boston Houghton Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (1999). Tea with milk. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (2000). The sign painter. Boston
Houghton Mifflin. -
- Say, A. (2002). Home of the brave. Boston
Houghton Mifflin. - Say, A. (2004). Music for Alice. Boston Houghton
Mifflin. - Say, A. (2009). Erika-San. Boston Houghton
Mifflin Books for Children.
6Honours Awards
- American Library Association Notable Book
designation, and Best Book for Young Adults
designation, both 1979, both for The Ink-Keeper's
Apprentice - New York Times Best Illustrated book award,
1980, for The Lucky Yak - Horn Book Fanfare list, 1984, and Christopher
Award, 1985, both for How My Parents Learned to
Eat - New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Children's
Books listee, 1988, for A River Dream - Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and American
Library Association Notable Children's Book, both
1988, and Caldecott Honor Book, 1989, all for The
Boy of the Three-Year Nap - Reading Magic Award, 1990, for El Chino
- Bay Area Book Reviewers Association award, and
PEN Center USA West award, both 1992, both for
Tree of Cranes - Caldecott Medal, 1994, for Grandfather's Journey.
-
7Critical Evaluation of One Work
- As the winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal
Allen Says Grandfathers Journey is clearly a
book with outstanding illustrations as the 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. The focus of this evaluation will be
to examine why this book is so highly acclaimed. - Section 1
- How do the illustrations create or complement the
story? - The illustrations in this book dominate the pages
which have very limited, succinct writing. They
set the backdrop for the narrative like the
snapshots would in a family picture album. Page
4 clearly is a portrait and signifies that this
could in fact be a photo album. Each is clear and
give the reader a feeling of being a part of the
journey that the Grandfather is on. I would say
that the writing complements the pictures rather
than the other way around. With the exception of
the second last page each page has only one or
two sentences which in effect are filling in the
blanks or supplying the reader with information
that they could not know from the pictures alone.
8Critical Evaluation of One Work (continued)
- Section 2
- How do the illustrations tell the story is the
style of art appropriate to the story how do
they reflect warmth and vitality through rich and
harmonious colour or appropriate use of
monochrome? - The illustrations tell the story just as
snapshots in a photo album would. Each sheds
light on a part of the Grandfathers journey,
essentially they are moments caught in time that
shaped the life of Says grandfather. The style
of this work is still life watercolour and the
pictures are realistic and makes one feel as if
they are on the journey or at least are sharing
in the memory of the journey. - The use of colour is important in these
paintings. During the happy times in the life of
the grand father the colours remain understated
as watercolours tend to do, but the palate is
extended to use warmer colours such as red and
yellows. This is especially evident on page 18
where the grandfather surrounds himself with
songbirds to remind him of his home in Japan. In
stark contrast to this is the illustration on
page 27 which conveys the loss of home through
the destruction of the bombing of Japan during
World War 2. In this picture the members of the
family are dressed in very drab colours and are
sandwiched between a very dull charcoal sky and a
slightly darker palate of greys and browns in the
form of a pile of rubble. The realism found in
all of these paintings allow the reader to see
the emotions of the characters. In this way Say
allows the illustrations to convey the feelings
that are not written about in the text.
9Critical Evaluation of One Work (continued)
- Section 3
- How do the illustrations help create the mood of
the story, as well as the pacing and tension from
page to page? - The illustrations allow the reader to see the
grandfather at various times and places during
his journey. Through the expressions of the faces
and the landscapes and vistas the reader is
entrenched in the time and space that create the
mood and can truly relate to the journey that the
grandfather is on. On page 10 the grandfather is
bewildered and yet excited by the huge cities and
their factories. This picture is split in two by
the presence or absence of colour which visually
represents the dichotomy of the grandfathers
feelings. - The pacing in this story is interesting because
it looks back on the life of Says grandfather so
essentially it spans one lifetime. The
illustrations chronicle this life as the first
picture is a portrait of the grandfather as a
young man and he is an old man at the end of the
book. In between we see the grandfathers life
and times shared through the experiences which he
has lived. - The final illustration of the book is a formal
portrait of Says grandfather in an oval frame.
It is the same portrait that appears as the
journey was beginning which is significant
because Says accompanying text is I think I
know my grandfather now. I miss him very much.
This completes the journey for both Say and the
reader.
10Critical Evaluation of One Work (continued)
- Section 4
- How does the layout, design of the book and the
placement of the words and pictures on the page
impact the entire reading experience? - As Ive mentioned before the layout of this book
is very much like a photo album or a scrap book
of a particular trip. In this case the trip is a
journey that spans a lifetime. The book is very
consistent with a large picture on each page with
one or two sentences below the picture describing
what we can not see. It is important for me to
stress that the text does not repeat what the
reader already sees in the picture. This is a
basic rule that I was taught as an editor and
sponsor of our school yearbook never write in a
caption what the reader can already see for
themselves. In the picture. Allen Say makes our
reading experience positive by ensuring that we
only have enough information in his text to help
us draw out the information from the
illustrations. - The large size of the pictures make this book
easy to share with younger readers. The details
will have children asking many questions about
what is happening in the story. Anyone who has
ever kept a photographic journal of a trip or
times throughout their lives can relate to the
various pictures in the book. Some are of
landscapes, others of people that were met along
the way and others of times that are remembered
back home with family.
11Critical Evaluation of One Work (continued)
- Section 5
- Points to ponder as to why this book won the
Caldecott Medal - Listed from the ALA website are the criteria for
awarding the Caldecott Medal - CRITERIA
- 1. In identifying a distinguished picture in a
book for children, - a. Committee members need to consider
- Excellence of execution in the artistic technique
employed - Excellence of pictorial interpretation of story,
theme, or concept of appropriateness of style of
illustration to the story, theme or concept of
delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting
mood or information through the pictures. - b. Committee members must consider excellence of
presentation in recognition of a child audience. - 2. The only limitation to graphic form is that
the form must be one which may be used in a
picture book. The book must be a self-contained
entity, not dependent on other media (i.e., sound
or film equipment) for its enjoyment. - 3. Each book is to be considered as a picture
book. The committee is to make its decision
primarily on the illustration, but other
components of a book are to be considered
especially when they make a book less
effective as a children's picture book. Such
other components might include the written text,
the overall design of the book, etc. - Note The committee should keep in mind that the
award is for distinguished illustrations in a
picture book and for excellence of pictoral
presentation for children. The award is not for
didactic intent or for popularity. - Adopted by the ALSC Board, January 1978. Revised,
Midwinter 1987. - Allen Say clearly has mastered the watercolour
technique. His skill is evident in each of the
pictures that are included in the book and like
all good art they evoke emotions from the
reader/viewer. - Even without the text the viewer of this book
would be able to have a pretty good idea as to
what the book was about. We may not get all of
the details, but we would know for instance that
the main character is torn between two places and
that he has traveled between them. The use of
various scenes from portraiture to landscapes
aids us in this understanding. - Allen Say was a successful photographer during
his time in the military and shortly after his
discharge. I wonder if the resemblance to a
scrapbook or photo album reflects this or if it
coincidental?
12References
- Books
- Say, A. (1993). Grandfathers Journey. Boston
Houghton Mifflin Company. - Web resources
- Allen Say biographical information retrieved
October 3, 2009 from - http//www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allens
ay/author.shtml - Caldecott Medal criteria retrieved October 5,
2009 from - http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrant
s/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecot
tterms.cfm