Review Detail

Gigi and Ojiji

Kids Fiction 527

Understanding Cultural Differences

July 11, 2022

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

Gigi is excited that her mother's father, whom she calls Ojiji, will be coming from Japan to live with her, her mother, and her blond haired father. She draws a big welcome picture for him to hang in his room and makes lots of plans for activities the two can do together. Disappointment sets in when the family meet him at the airport; he looks too old to play tag and has trouble reading the signs in the airport, much less the books that Gigi has planned. She thinks that he laughs at her Japanese, and when he does not open the gift she gives him, she thinks maybe he doesn't like her. After her dog Rufus is so excited by a new person that he has an accident in the house, the grandfather opines that dogs should be kept outside. How will Gigi be able to have fun with her grandfather if he doesn't even like her? Her mother carefully explains to her some of the cultural differences and misunderstandings, and reassures Gigi that her grandfather loves her and is happy to be spending time with her. The two come up with new activities, like drawing and coloring, that they can enjoy together.

Good Points

This level three I Can Read book was both written and illustrated by Iwai, and is a delightful story of getting to know a family member who has a different cultural background. Gigi is exuberant in her plans for her grandfather, and utterly crushed when they don't work out. Young people often have high expectations for new experiences that often aren't met; I remember that my daughter was so excited to get braces... until she realized how much they hurt! This would be a great book to read to a child who was going to meet a grandparent for the first time, but is also just a fun story to read.

I was such a big fan of I Can Read books as a child, and would reread piles of them. I enjoyed finding details in the pictures that weren't mentioned in the text, and the books were simple enough that I could read them to my younger brother as well. I would have loved looking at the details of Gigi's drawings or her room, and would have flipped through to find different pictures of Rufus, the dog, so I could compare his facial expressions. There is a great list of a few Japanese words at the back, and I probably would have practiced saying those and used them with my family. There are a lot of elements that make I Can Read books successful, and Iwai incorporates all of my favorites.

It's good for young readers to see different perspectives, and to understand that not everyone is exactly that same. Read Gigi and Ojiji along with Pomerantz's The Outside Dog, where a girl and her grandfather disagree about a dog in Puerto Rico, Hall's Carla and the Christmas Cornbread, where a girl and her grandmother have a misunderstanding about baking, and Lilly's Let Me Fix You a Plate, where a girl visits two different sides of her family for celebrations.