HOW MY PARENTS LEARNED TO EAT

by Ina R. Friedman

Illustrated by Allen Say

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Copyright 1984

32 Pages

Realistic Fiction (Multicultural)

When you see a couple comprised of different cultural backgrounds you never really think about the obstacles they had to overcome. This story is being told by a multicultural families daughter. She shares with us that her mother was a "Japanese School Girl", and her father was an "American Sailor" when they first met.  This new couples greatest dilemma was dinner. Neither was comfortable eating with the other because of the cultural differences. The two actually avoided going on a date for this very reason. We obviously know that they settle their differences since they do have a daughter together, but how did they manage? Will the American Sailor learn to eat with chopsticks? Will the Japanese School Girl learn to eat with a knife and fork? 

Allen Say, the illustrator, drew his images with pencils then added color with paint. The pictures are very detailed in their two dimensional format. In the image above, you can see that the illustrator uses space and perspective. The young daughter who is telling the story can be found in the top left corner. As I look at this page, I visualize a little thought bubble coming out from her head containing this image of her mother and father who are the main characters of the story. 

There are so many activities for this book which would be suitable for ages 5-8. The children would really enjoy learning to eat with chopsticks much like the father had to do. The teacher could provide a mini lesson/tutorial on how to use chopsticks then let the students try them out at lunch. The students could also complete a compare and contrast chart. The book list many differences of the two cultures aside from their eating habits. One last activity which the students would greatly benefit from would be to write their own narrative. They could share how their family eats at home and the types of food which they prefer. This would be a great opportunity to allow the diverse students express their cultural backgrounds in comparison to their fellow classmates.