Review by Booklist Review
Readers familiar with Say's work will recognize the autobiographical flavor in this serene and beautiful book. It opens with an old man taking a walk when he comes across a toy airplane whirring by. It jogs a memory of his childhood toy, and he follows it, drifting through scenes from places in his past. As he encounters people, it occurs to him that he is getting younger and that these must be memories. Some encounters are unfamiliar, but others, such as an ice cream shop he frequented as a teen, are clear and sharp. He also recalls that his toy plane was named Tonbo, which means dragonfly in Japanese. The illustrations are rendered in oil, maintaining the crisp, light-filled quality that is Say's iconic style. The dreamy nostalgia and absence of plot might not appeal to younger readers, but their adults will appreciate the quiet, slow-paced, reflective essence of this lovely memoiresque picture book. Creative teachers can use it as a mentor text for writing activities.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Caldecott Medalist Say, who grew up in Japan and the U.S., creates a surreal, bittersweet, and sometimes unsettling journey in this time-spanning picture book. The narrator, a white-haired, East Asian--cued man with a walking stick, stumbles upon a simple paper airplane and calls it by the name he gave one as a child: Tonbo. As he follows it, the landscape appears to change, at times into places he recognizes. Encountering a stranger who calls him "son," the elderly man--who now seems to be traveling backward in time--laughs. "I may be older than your father," he responds. He sees a reflection that looks like a younger version of himself, and he feels younger, too ("My hands! So smooth--no aches!"). Realizing that "I'm getting younger with each stranger I meet," he takes in American scenes until coming upon a Japanese garden gate of his youth and hearing himself "humming the song I learned in kindergarten." There, the figure, now a small child, finds Tonbo when, suddenly, English-speaking voices return the protagonist to the present-day. Say confronts the passing of time head-on, openly perceiving the fragmentary nature of memory. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4--8. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Embark on a journey through time. The narrator, an elderly, apparently Japanese man, is out for a walk when a paper airplane whizzes by. He recognizes it as Tonbo (Japanese fordragonfly), the plane he had as a boy. Captivated by this memory, the narrator drops his cane and follows the airplane around a seaside town. He talks with various townspeople, each seeing him as a younger and younger person--until at last he sees the image of a twentysomething man reflected in an ice cream store window. When the narrator, now a child, finds the plane resting on a bush in a Japanese garden, time catches up with him as he remembers his mother bringing him the plane when he was sick as a boy. Leaving the plane for nearby schoolchildren to find, the man--old once more--returns to his walk and his cane. Say's signature impressionistic, dreamy watercolors evoke the otherworldly experience of the narrator's day with a summer palette awash in warm oranges, yellows, and pinks, juxtaposed with cool greens and blues. The whimsical, at times poetically fragmented text is peppered with names and places drawn from the narrator's memory. While children may have a hard time relating to the experience of reliving one's past, the tale could spark conversation about the power of memory; older adults may enjoy sharing it with the young people in their lives. A sophisticated, ethereal musing on the passage of time.(Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
