Book Review of The House Baba Built: An Artist’s Childhood in China

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Young, Ed. 2011. THE HOUSE BABA BUILT: AN ARTIST’S CHILDHOOD IN CHINA. Ill. by Ed Young. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hatchette Book Group, Inc. ISBN 9780316076289

 

PLOT SUMMARY

The author’s father builds a house to try to keep his family safe from the coming war. The only way he can afford it is for the landowner to let the author and his family live there on a 25-year free lease, which at the end reverts back to the landowner. It is a magnificent home with courtyards, gardens, and a swimming pool. Before the war comes to them, times are good for the family. As the war draws near, it becomes more difficult to get food to eat. Distant family members, and even German refugees, join their home as they flee from the war. Eventually the war ends, and the home becomes the property of the landowner. The family disperses to happily live their own lives.      

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This biography is told through the eyes of a child named Ed growing up in wartime China. The text concentrates on the concerns of a child, with the understanding of a child. Life in wartime Shanghai is not easy, but together he and his family and friends find a way to get through it. The author’s description of events is an accurate retelling of what happened in Shanghai during World War II. Personal anecdotes, such as cricket fights, raising silkworms, chopstick races, and bound feet, show differences between western and eastern culture. The book shows the importance of family and friends, and how when the two groups come together, the resulting synthesis is greater than the separate parts. The artwork is a rich tapestry of mixed medium, including collage, drawing, and photos. The roughness of the artwork reflects the difficult life that the narrator, his family, and friends struggle through during the war years. However, the author/illustrator also uses his art to show that parts coming together create a beautiful whole.   

 

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

2011 BOOKLIST EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD: “With inventive collage illustrations and a vivid text, this memoir recalls the artist’s childhood in Shanghai, where Young’s father protected his large family, as best he could, from the looming shadow of WWII.”

2012 ALSC NOTABLE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD: “With multimedia scrapbook images that that intrigue, astonish, and surprise, Ed Young recalls his childhood in war-torn Shanghai, introduces his extended family, and describes their life in the house his father designed.”

KIRKUS review: “Flashes of multi-media brilliance illuminate this darkly colored, leisurely paced memoir of childhood in Shanghai.”

 

CONNECTIONS

* This beautiful book can be used in a multitude of applications, including lessons on WWII, China, Asia, and family & friends working together to get through hardships.

* Other books like this one:

Say, Allen. DRAWING FROM MEMORY. ISBN 9780545176866.

Takei, George. THEY CALLED US ENEMY. ISBN 9781603094504.

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