Winsome and captivating, this gently narrated and warmly illustrated children’s picture book portrays the loving care that runs in a family through the generations.
As a young girl walks alongside her grandmother, she narrates, “My a-ma told me that in our family, our care for one another flows like a river. And like a river, the way we care for one another never stops. It connects each generation to the next and back again.” The girl explains that Mama helps A-ma wash her hair, just as A-ma washed Mama’s hair when she was a girl. And the girl’s grandfather, A-gong, offers caregiving when he picks her up from school with a snack and a smile, just as she brings a snack and offers a smile when she goes with him to his doctors’ appointments, comforting him when he gets shots and translating what the doctor says.
The girl sees the river of caregiving flow through her uncle as he spoon-feeds his father, and when her family calls their extended family in another country or sends a care package to them. The river of caregiving also flows beyond biological ties to friends and neighbors.
The girl is learning that caregiving changes depending on circumstances: “Like a river, / the way we care can change as it passes each bend in life. / Sometimes it’s fierce and carves out new paths. / Sometimes it’s gentle and steady. / Sometimes it’s roaring and rumbling. / And sometimes it barely makes a sound.”
In an author note, Chung writes, “Memories of my childhood are intrinsically tied to intergenerational caretaking. Growing up in a family with four generations and lots of extended family, caretaking for the elderly and children alike was at the heart of our family gatherings. Intergenerational caretaking is one of the lesser-represented experiences in children’s picture books, although it is an ever-present and increasing reality in rapidly aging societies around the world.”
(Nancy Paulsen Books)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.