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Summary
Summary
No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July, I say. We're in apple-pie America, and my parents are cooking chow mein! . . . They just don't get it. Americans do not eat Chinese food on the Fourth of July. Right?
Shocked that her parents are cooking Chinese food to sell in the family store on this all-American holiday, a feisty Chinese-American girl tries to tell her mother and father how things really are. But as the parade passes by and fireworks light the sky, she learns a lesson of her own.
This award-winning author-illustrator team returns with a lighthearted look at the very American experience of mixed cultures.
Author Notes
JANET S. WONG is an award-winning author of picture books and poetry for young readers. She lives in Hopewell, New Jersey.
MARGARET CHODOS-IRVINE 's striking artwork has graced children's books as well as many cards, magazines, and book jackets. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The author and artist teamed for Buzz return for this carefully honed story about a girl's experience as a first-generation Chinese-American. Readers first encounter the unnamed narrator as she looks unhappily out the glass door of her parents' market, open for business even on the Fourth of July. Hearing the "boom, boom, boom" of the approaching parade, sniffing the apple pie baking in a neighbor's oven, she is distracted by the cooking smells from the store's kitchen, where her parents are preparing chow mein and sweet-and-sour pork. "No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July," she tries to explain, and her prediction seems right as the afternoon lengthily unfolds with almost no customers. "My parents do not understand all American things," she reminds herself, "They were not born here." But the evening brings a steady stream of patrons, and the holiday concludes with the family watching fireworks (invented by the Chinese) and eating what else? apple pie. The well-paced text heavily freighted at the beginning and swift by the end reflects the girl's changing emotions and moods. The art resembles cut-paper collage. Chodos-Irvine deploys sharply defined objects in a range of colors and patterns to construct harmonious, forthright compositions that will likely prove inviting to readers of many backgrounds. Ages 3-7. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July, a girl tells her Chinese-American parents, who cook chow mein to sell in their market. As the day wears on with few customers, the girl is disappointed--until a crush of hungry people in the evening proves that chow mein is as American as apple pie. The immigrant experience is handled with good humor; the cheerful mixed-media art portrays cultural details in a matter-of-fact way. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
PreS.^-Gr. 2. "No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July," says a young Chinese American girl, sulking because she's stuck at her parents' food store, missing the parade and the holiday clamor. At first the day feels interminable: there are only a few customers, no one buys the homemade Chow Mein, and the girl thinks, "My parents do not understand all American things. They were not born here." But then, at dinnertime, hungry celebrators crowd in; they want Chinese food, and the line stretches down the block. Later, when the store is closed, the girl joins her parents on the roof for fireworks and a neighbor's apple pie. Wong's message is clear; Chinese food is American. But this powerful, simple reminder is gracefully woven into an appealing story with believable characters and emotions, written in the girl's spare, lyrical voice. Chodos-Irvine, who also illustrated Wong's attractive Buzz (2000), captures the story's uncluttered, elemental qualities in opaque prints that resemble paper cutouts. Vibrant, colorful spreads keep the focus on the girl, using body language to accentuate first her discomfort and boredom, and then her pride as she hands out cartons of takeout. This excellent read-aloud will partner well with books that emphasize American patriotism, such as Lynne Cheney's America: A Patriotic Primer [BKL Je 1 & 15 02]. --Gillian Engberg
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This simply told story explores a child's fears about cultural differences and fitting in with understanding and affection. A Chinese-American girl helps her parents open their small neighborhood grocery store every day of the year. However, today is the Fourth of July and her parents just don't understand that customers won't be ordering chow mein and sweet-and-sour pork on this very American holiday. As she spends the day working in the store and watching the local parade, she can't shake her anxiety about her parents' navet. When evening arrives along with hungry customers looking "for some Chinese food to go," she is surprised but obviously proud that her parents were right after all: Americans do eat Chinese food on the Fourth of July. Nighttime finds the family atop their roof enjoying fireworks and sharing a neighbor's apple pie. Done in a "variety of printmaking techniques," Chodos-Irvine's illustrations are cheerfully bright and crisp, capturing the spirit of the day as well as the changing emotions of the main character. This second successful collaboration by the creators of Buzz (Harcourt, 2000) is one you won't want to miss.-Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
"No one wants Chinese food / on the Fourth of July, I say. / Fireworks are Chinese, Father says, / and hands me a pan full of sweet-and-sour pork." A Chinese-American girl grapples with issues of culture, identity, and acceptance in this well-conceived work. In the opening spread, executed in a printmaking technique similar in style to a woodcut, the girl leans against the gray door of her parents' store wearing a long expression on her face and a red-and-white striped shirt with blue overalls. "I hear the parade coming this way-/ boom, boom, boom. / I smell apple pie in Laura's oven upstairs," she says. Yet in her own kitchen, her parents prepare chow mein. Later, a quintet of evenly spaced spot illustrations stretch across the length of the page. Text appears above the pictures of the girl sitting on a green stool: "One o'clock, / and they buy ice cream. / Two o'clock. / The egg rolls are getting hard. / Three o'clock. / Ice and matches. / Four o'clock, / and the noodles feel like shoelaces." "My parents do not understand all American things. / They were not born here," she says on the next spread, certain that the food will go uneaten. But her demeanor changes when customers start trickling in. Soon, she steps behind the counter to help fill orders. In the end, the story comes full circle as the girl heads to the rooftop to watch the fireworks with her family and friends from the neighborhood; on the final spread, she eats a piece of apple pie. All at once, cultural boundaries don't seem quite as defined. (Picture book. 3-7)
