Book review: Brave Mrs. Sato

Brave Mrs. Sato

By Lori Matsukawa

Illustrated by Tammy Yee

Published by Chin Music Press, Inc.

What a lovely story! This simple, accessible story introduces readers to an elderly woman, Mrs. Sato, who takes care of Cathy after school in Hawaii. Already, the story will draw readers in, since so many children have caretakers who are not quite family, but special to them all the same. The pastel, big-headed illustrations will remind readers of many television cartoons, again drawing them into the book. After a few pages of getting to know Mrs. Sato from the eyes of Cathy, who loves her clean home and her delicious cooking, we begin to hear about Mrs. Sato's history as a picture bride.

The illustrations fade to sepia tones, making it clear which pages are about Mrs. Sato's history as a young woman, and which take place in the "current" day (possibly 1960s?) when Cathy is a young girl. The book gently introduces readers to Japanese flower arranging, cuisine, Buddhism, and the history of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii, all while telling a story that evokes grandparents using stories from their own lives to help the youngest generation cope with life's challenges. Cathy decides that she can face her fears of moving and making new friends, even losing her daily connection with Mrs. Sato, since Brave Mrs. Sato was able to face her fears of leaving Japan to come to Hawaii and marry a man she had never met. Mrs. Sato describes some of her strategies for coping with strong emotions, including physical mementoes like her kimono and creative pursuits like flower arranging. At the end, Cathy and Mrs. Sato sit down together for a meal.

This book will be appreciated in classrooms who are learning about grandparents -- many children have relationships in their lives that may not be blood relatives but do fit the pattern of this story, and they will enjoy being included in the experience of "grandchild" by hearing this book. This book would also be useful in classrooms working on social-emotional lessons about anxiety, moving, and coping with homesickness and culture shock. It would be a useful replacement for more dated picture books about the immigration experience that center on Ellis Island, or immigration units that wish to tie the "back then" aspects more concretely to the "people I know today" aspects -- this book does a great job of showing how "long ago" history is connected to children via their caregivers. Finally, this story will be appreciated in schools that have little material describing Hawaii as a place where regular people live and have generational history, not simply a place of hotels.

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