I had many emotions and thoughts while reading Hundred Years of Happiness. I was wondering the nationality of the family (you learn Vietnamese) as I was curious where the food came from and where the traditional represented (colors are important to cultures and I was wondering why white was not used). Then, I would become emotional as I realized this is not really a happy story, but a bittersweet one about the love of a grandchild and grandparents. And where one grandparent, the grandmother, is suffering from some serious dementia.
An (the child of the story) tells how they and their grandfather prepare from seeds to final dish, the favorite dish of the grandmothers at her wedding. We see the lights of recognition and the dark of the loss of memories. When An finally sees that light go off in her grandmother’s eyes, only to lose it again, the frustration An feels is raw and relatable.
Those real emotions and moments of the child and family come alive in Thanhha Lai’s text. And burst off the pages with the boldness of details and color in the illustrations of Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien. These images are gorgeous, busy, detailed, soft, and bold. They are just amazing.
I will say, while this is one of my favorite picture books this year, it is also the worse as you the adult know things will not get easier. Also, the name An is a wonderful name, but is awkward to read as it does not flow to the American ear as say Mary or Dorothy would have . Also, I was “filling in the blanks” and trying to make the story have lower case “a’” for “an” or add a “d” for “and.” But those things aside, this is an amazing book.
However, while aimed at the older child, I am not sure the picture book format will be for everyone.