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y separately published work icon Grandpa and Ah Gong single work   picture book   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 1995... 1995 Grandpa and Ah Gong
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'When Mandy's Chinese grandfather comes from Malaysia for a visit she is afraid that he and her Aussie grandpa will not get on. Fortunately they discover they have an interest in common: making kites for Mandy!' (Source: bookseller's website.)

Exhibitions

6980259
6985956
9563074

Affiliation Notes

  • Associated with the AustLit subset Australian Literary Responses to 'Asia' as the work contains Malaysian characters.
  • This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it contains Asian characters.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • South Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Hyland House , 1995 .
      image of person or book cover 3268331680736876812.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: [30] p. 26 cmp.
      Description: col. illus.
      ISBN: 1875657487

Works about this Work

Cross-Generational Negotiations : Asian-Australian Picture Books Clare Bradford , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 17 no. 2 2007; (p. 36-42)

Clare Bradford discusses a number of picture books and a junior novel in which the narratives are structured around interactions between Asian-Australian children and their grandparents; Grandpa and Ah Gong (Xiangyi Mo and Morag Loh, 1995), Old Magic (Alan Baillie, 1996), Grandpa's Mask (Di Wu and Jing Jing Guo, 2001), What a Mess Fang Fang! (Sally Rippin, 1998). She proposes that these texts provide an opportunity to introduce 'ideas around change, continuity and cultural meanings' to young readers through their specific focus on 'the everyday experiences of growing up in a multicultural society' (36). As children's texts 'habitually hinge upon narratives of growth and development' (36) Bradford points out that crosscultural and cross-generational relations between grandparents and their grandchildren are often informed by 'different experiences and perspective that are negotiated through external objects, artefacts and markings' (37). There is an emphasis on 'making' in the texts, that Bradford reads, in terms of multicultural discourse, as suggestive of Stevenson's notion that cultural citizens 'construct themselves...by learning to move within multiple and diverse communities' (41). Bradford's analysis points to the 'limitations of the picture book form' in 'representing the social and cultural complexities of diasporic experience' (41); however, she also sees these texts as speaking to children's literature more generally through 'a surplus of meaning, an excess of signification that seeks to provide pleasure while socializing young citizens' (41).

The New Fringe Dwellers : The Problem of Ethnicity in Recent Australian Children's Picture Books Jeri Kroll , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Old Neighbours, New Visions 1997; Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , August vol. 9 no. 2 1999; (p. 31-39)
Kroll looks at several children's texts in an effort to investigate a number of questions pertinent to the issue of moving the representation of ethnic groups 'beyond the immigration experience in literature so that the ethnicity of non-Anglo characters is no longer the focus' (31). This includes clarifying the cultural norms against which such characters are pitted, investigating the significance of the landscape in defining nationality and finally, considering whether having more authors/illustrators of non-Anglo origin in the field would 'alter the representation of ethnic groups' (31). She concludes that 'the appearance of non-Anglo children or adults as picture book protagonists has not increased to a substantial degree in recent years' and while ethnic characters are 'visible', the lack of centrality given to migrant groups and individuals continues the process of marginalization, tokenism and stereotyping which continues to dominate representations of non-Anglo experiences in Australian picture books (38).
Untitled Joan Zahnleiter , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 10 no. 5 1995; (p. 30)

— Review of Grandpa and Ah Gong Morag Loh , 1995 single work picture book
And More on Picture Books Linnet Hunter , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 175 1995; (p. 62-63)

— Review of Grandpa and Ah Gong Morag Loh , 1995 single work picture book ; The Princess and the Perfect Dish Libby Gleeson , 1995 single work picture book ; The Dreamkeeper : A Letter from Robert Ingpen to His Granddaughter Alice Elizabeth Robert Ingpen , 1995 single work picture book ; Old Pig Margaret Wild , 1995 single work picture book
Untitled Joan Zahnleiter , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 10 no. 5 1995; (p. 30)

— Review of Grandpa and Ah Gong Morag Loh , 1995 single work picture book
And More on Picture Books Linnet Hunter , 1995 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 175 1995; (p. 62-63)

— Review of Grandpa and Ah Gong Morag Loh , 1995 single work picture book ; The Princess and the Perfect Dish Libby Gleeson , 1995 single work picture book ; The Dreamkeeper : A Letter from Robert Ingpen to His Granddaughter Alice Elizabeth Robert Ingpen , 1995 single work picture book ; Old Pig Margaret Wild , 1995 single work picture book
Cross-Generational Negotiations : Asian-Australian Picture Books Clare Bradford , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 17 no. 2 2007; (p. 36-42)

Clare Bradford discusses a number of picture books and a junior novel in which the narratives are structured around interactions between Asian-Australian children and their grandparents; Grandpa and Ah Gong (Xiangyi Mo and Morag Loh, 1995), Old Magic (Alan Baillie, 1996), Grandpa's Mask (Di Wu and Jing Jing Guo, 2001), What a Mess Fang Fang! (Sally Rippin, 1998). She proposes that these texts provide an opportunity to introduce 'ideas around change, continuity and cultural meanings' to young readers through their specific focus on 'the everyday experiences of growing up in a multicultural society' (36). As children's texts 'habitually hinge upon narratives of growth and development' (36) Bradford points out that crosscultural and cross-generational relations between grandparents and their grandchildren are often informed by 'different experiences and perspective that are negotiated through external objects, artefacts and markings' (37). There is an emphasis on 'making' in the texts, that Bradford reads, in terms of multicultural discourse, as suggestive of Stevenson's notion that cultural citizens 'construct themselves...by learning to move within multiple and diverse communities' (41). Bradford's analysis points to the 'limitations of the picture book form' in 'representing the social and cultural complexities of diasporic experience' (41); however, she also sees these texts as speaking to children's literature more generally through 'a surplus of meaning, an excess of signification that seeks to provide pleasure while socializing young citizens' (41).

The New Fringe Dwellers : The Problem of Ethnicity in Recent Australian Children's Picture Books Jeri Kroll , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Old Neighbours, New Visions 1997; Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , August vol. 9 no. 2 1999; (p. 31-39)
Kroll looks at several children's texts in an effort to investigate a number of questions pertinent to the issue of moving the representation of ethnic groups 'beyond the immigration experience in literature so that the ethnicity of non-Anglo characters is no longer the focus' (31). This includes clarifying the cultural norms against which such characters are pitted, investigating the significance of the landscape in defining nationality and finally, considering whether having more authors/illustrators of non-Anglo origin in the field would 'alter the representation of ethnic groups' (31). She concludes that 'the appearance of non-Anglo children or adults as picture book protagonists has not increased to a substantial degree in recent years' and while ethnic characters are 'visible', the lack of centrality given to migrant groups and individuals continues the process of marginalization, tokenism and stereotyping which continues to dominate representations of non-Anglo experiences in Australian picture books (38).
Last amended 31 Oct 2017 14:12:23
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