Apple Pie 4th of July by Janet Wong Pictures by Margaret C.Irvine


BIBLIOGRAPHY: Wong, J. S., & Chodos-Irvine, M. (2006). Apple pie 4th of July. Orlando: Voyager Books. ISBN:0-15-202543X
SUMMARY: Shocked that her parents are cooking Chinese food to sell in the family store on an all-American holiday, a feisty Chinese American girl tries to tell her mother and father how things really are. She fears that the food her parents are preparing to sell on the Fourth of July will not be eaten, but as the parade passes by and fireworks light the sky, she learns a surprising lesson.
ANALYSIS: this carefully honed story about a girl's experience as a first-generation Chinese-American. Readers first encounter the unnamed narrator as she looks unhappily out the glass door of her parents' market, open for business even on the Fourth of July. Hearing the "boom, boom, boom" of the approaching parade, sniffing the apple pie baking in a neighbor's oven, she is distracted by the cooking smells from the store's kitchen, where her parents are preparing chow mein and sweet-and-sour pork. "No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July," she tries to explain, and her prediction seems right as the afternoon lengthily unfolds with almost no customers. "My parents do not understand all American things," she reminds herself, "They were not born here." But the evening brings a steady stream of patrons, and the holiday concludes with the family watching fireworks (invented by the Chinese) and eating apple pie. The well-paced text heavily freighted at the beginning and swift by the end reflects the girl's changing emotions and moods. The art resembles cut-paper collage. Chodos-Irvine deploys sharply defined objects in a range of colors and patterns to construct harmonious, forthright compositions that will likely prove inviting to readers of many backgrounds.
USE:  A couple things from the book that show a highlight on the analysis is the mood and tone of the book. I love how Wong uses her cultural experience to write about what she eat for this particular holiday. The narrator is reminded of her background by saying ,”My parents do not understand all American things,” “They were not born here.”(14) Her mood changes from frustrated with her parents for not celebrating like the Americans to it shifting to being hopeful when people began coming in for food.

I can think of multiple lessons using this book. It shines on tradition and how people from other cultures celebrate fourth of July. I could have the kids write about what they eat as a tradition for holidays, and make it a bring a dish to class presentation. I can give a mini lesson on mood and tone and have the reader identify the changes in the narrator.



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