My Day With Gong Gong

My Day with Gong Gong is about a young Canadian girl, May, and her day visiting her Chinese grandfather, Gong Gong, in Chinatown. May immediately feels apprehensive about her visit – she doesn’t understand a word of Cantonese, and her grandfather doesn’t know much English. After spending some time together watching TV, Gong Gong takes May for a stroll around Chinatown, visiting a gift shop, a dim sum restaurant, and a supermarket. Along the way, Gong Gong stops to chat in Cantonese with his friends and acquaintances, but May feels increasingly frustrated and agitated when she can’t convey what she wants and everyone seems to be laughing at her. As her emotions reach a boiling point, May realizes, however, that Gong Gong understands and cares a lot more than he let on, and, with a new attitude, May looks upon her surroundings with a renewed appreciation.

My Day With Gong Gong is a lovely exploration of the emotions and inner turmoil felt by immigrants and heritage language learners as they navigate an entirely new cultural environment. Sennah Yee creates interesting contrasts between the experiences of elderly immigrants thrust into a new culture and their naturalized descendants discovering their heritage for the first time. Author Sennah Yee and illustrator Elaine Chen leverage their own Chinese heritage and their experiences living in Toronto, the Canadian city with the largest Chinese community, in crafting this story that helps to bridge generational gaps and inspire curiosity in first-generational Canadians for rediscovering their heritage. At the end of the book, the author also includes a glossary of Chinese words that appeared in the book, along with their pronunciations and translations, providing an excellent starting point for young heritage learners.

My Day With Gong Gong could be an excellent conversation starter and teaching tool for young children growing up in multi-generational families.