Sybil B

Award winner Paper Son: the inspiring story of Tyrus Wong, immigrant and artist, written by Julie Leung and illustrated by Chris Sasaki, tells of one Chinese family immigrating with false papers in order to enter America under the Chinese Exclusion Act. Tyrus Wong and his father were two of 170,000 Chinese who memorized another family's identity to be able to live in California. A beautifully talented artist, Tyrus received training, later working at Walt Disney Studios. Creating scenes for the movie “Bambi,” he did not receive proper credit for his artwork. Tyrus had his Chinese name, his Cantonese “paper” name, his family nickname, and his American name. Tyrus Wong combines his Chinese and American names. Photographs at the back of the book show Tyrus as a child, in adulthood, and at age 92 as he created kites in the shape of butterflies, dragons, owls, pandas and more. An unpaginated biography intended for 3rd - 5th grades, Paper Son’s purpose is to educate about the racism committed by the United States government between 1910 to 1940 in California. From this short history adults can also learn. Julie Leung tells Tyrus Wong's story with facts for teachers in the back of the book. Chris Sasaki demonstrates Tyrus Wong's influence in this intriguingly painted true story. The important message is yes, everyone who is an immigrant should be welcomed and everyone's talents should be recognized in their proper merit, a lesson humanity continues to need to learn. Sybil Blazej-Yee, Children's Librarian