A Lovely Day Out

In this charming new story author Sennah Yee shows readers what it is like for grandchildren and grandparents when they don’t exactly speak the same language. My Day with Gong Gong, illustrated by Elaine Chen is a beautiful inter generational story about how communication doesn’t necessarily happen just through words.

Gong Gong (mother’s father in Chinese) is taking care of May today but Mayis a little worried because Gong Gong doesn’t speak English and she doesn’t; speak Cantonese. Gong Gong takes her to all of his favourite places in Chinatown and as children do, May gets a little impatient. She doesn’t realize that Gong Gong is watching her the whole time and understands her, even if he doesn;t understand the language.

I’m a total sucker for a good inter generational story. It is so important for readers to see the valuable and loving relationships that they can have with their grandparents and elders. This story is especially poignant as there are many children who may not be able to clearly communicate through language with their grandparents, I myself struggled at times communicating with my grandparents as they are french speakers with limited English and I am an English speaker with limited french, however that didn’t lessen our relationship or the feeling of love I received from them. I particularly love how Gong Gong is sharing some of his favourite things with May in this story. Readers need to see reflections of their lives in the stories they read and understand the diversity all around them whether they live in a big city or a small rural community.