Hundred Years of Happiness

4.8

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Co-Authors / Illustrators

Publisher

HarperCollins

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

April 05, 2022

ISBN

978-0063026926

Buy This Book

This sweet and emotional picture book will resonate with readers who love A Big Mooncake for Little Star, Ladder to the Moon, and Thank You, Omu!

An’s grandmother Bà sometimes gets trapped in her cloudy memories. An and her grandfather, Ông, come up with a plan to bring her back to a happy moment: they grow gấc fruits so they can make xôi gấc, Bà’s favorite dish from her wedding in Việt Nam many years ago.

An and Ông work together in the garden, nurturing the gấc seeds. They must be patient and wait for the seeds to grow, flower, and turn into fruit. When the xôi gấc is finally ready, An is hopeful that her grandmother will remember her wedding wish with Ông: hundred years of happiness.

Striking and vivid illustrations bring this tender story of a loving, intergenerational Vietnamese family to life.

Editor review

1 review

Memories through Favorite Foods

July 11, 2022

Overall rating

4.8

Plot

4.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

An loves to spend time with her grandparents, but it has been an increasingly sad experience since Bà has been struggling with memory issues. She and An Ông, An's grandfather, were exceptionally close, so he and An decide to grow gấc fruit in order to make Bà's favorite dish, Xôi Gấc (Vietnamese Red Sticky Rice). They send for seeds, and while they are planting, cultivating, and harvesting the fruit, we see snippets of stories from the grandparents lives. They grew up in Vietnam, where they were married before coming to the US. When the fruit is ripe, An and Ông mke the Xôi Gấc, and for a moment while eating it, Bà seems to remember a bit more, and quotes the blessing she recieved when she married Ông, that they would have "a hundred years of happiness". Bouyed by their success, the two start the process of growing gấc again.

Good Points

The illustrations have a lot of green in them, so there is a definite feel of a garden. I especially liked the picture of the grandmother's house in Vietnam, with the flowers on the roof. There is also a greenhouse where An and her grandfather are growing the plants that is full of greenery. This would be an interesting book to read while cultivating plants with special family meaning at home, even it is something easier to find, such as sprouting an onio or potato.

Memory loss in a grandparent is certainly something with which many children have to deal, and this is a sensitively done exploration of what it means for a grandparent to show signs of dementia, and how family can help bring some comfort and memories to those struggling.

There are a few other books on this topic, like Bowman's I Love You to the Stars, Birkjær's Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost and Pak's Finding Grandma's Memories. This is also a great choice for connecting to Vietnamese culture through familiy ties, and would be a good title to add to books like Yum's Grandpa Across the Ocean, Wong's The Trip Back Home, and Lim's Mommy's Hometown.