Chris SasakiRezensionen

This book follows the immigration of a boy and his father. They lie about who they are to get into the U.S. and the son has to memorize a lot of information so that it matches what the father had said. When the son gets older and progresses through school, he begins doing Western art in class. The father also teaches him the traditional art styles from China. When the boy grows older he is an artist for Walt Disney and mixes Eastern and Western art styles to create the background of Bambi. When he gets fired, he begins doing art on kites and lanterns. This book would be good for 3rd-4th grade in sharing story progression and finding who you are, like the boy found who he was in the merge of east and west.

This book tells the story of Tyrus Wong, a Chinese immigrant to the “Golden Mountains” of California. Tyrus is a talented artist and we see his achievements, most notably his work on Bambi. This story depicts grit, talent, and the challenges of immigration. Wonderful artwork mimics the brushstrokes of traditional Chinese art. I would use this book to talk with kinder-2nd graders about th history of immigration, especially the reality of laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act.

A book that gives identity perspective, helps children to identify with it on the level of maybe constantly saying they are someone other than who they are. Helps children ti understand some historical perspective on a figure that made an impact in the world through art.

Story about a boy and his father immigrating from China to America. This boy receives the name Tyrus Wong in coming to America, by his teachers. Tyrus loves art, but especially painting and illustration. He goes on to work for Disney, helping to create the movie Bambi. Disney unfortunately fires him, but he still created art wherever he went and he made his mark in the world.

I really liked this book! I had no idea about his story and I thought this book was super informative. I would read this book if we were ever talking about Asian stories or immigration.

This story tells about the life of tyrus wong, a chneese immigrant who became an artist. it tells of the difficulties he faced while having to pretend to be a different person to enter america, getting fired from his job at disney, and ultimately overcoming his challenges and creating beautiful art.

The story of a boy and his father who had to lie about their identity to come to America to flee the war in their home country. The boy and his father were very close and the story is very sad, featuring moments of exclusion, judgement, and racism. The boy went to art school and worked for Walt Disney, but was fired and had to move on.
It was inspirational, sad, and an important story to read.
This would be a GREAT story to discuss the war, immigration, and related topics, as well as a great addition to a classroom library. This is a book targeted towards younger grades, but could be used in 5th-7th as an introduction to these harsher topics and sad periods of discrimination.

This book is about the artist Tyrus Wong and his journey and experience immigrating to America. He came to America having to leave behind a lot of things, including his old name, but his father knew that this would give him new opportunities in America. After going through school, and studying art at college, Tyrus eventually came to work at Disney as an animator, and eventually helped create the landscapes for the movie Bambi, but wasn't credited for it. This book would be good for a 2nd grade classroom because of it's length and the amount of words on each page. It allows students who may have immigrated to America to see a story that might be similar to theirs.

This book is suitable for primary readers.
This book is about Tyrus Wong and his life as both an immigrant from China and an artist.
This book could be useful in teaching about different cultural backgrounds and perseverance.

This biography follows the life of Tyrus Wong, who immigrated to the United States with his father as a "paper son." The book tells of his life growing up and studying in art school, holding a job at Disney, and through his later life. The illustrations are beautiful accompaniments showing the events of Wong's life in panels with different styles, including watercolor. They bring each part of his story to life and demonstrate his love of art. This book was the winner of the American Library Association's 2021 Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Picture Book and it is very easy to see why. I highly recommend this book as a springboard to discussing art and illustration, immigration (historically and today), and biography for any age group.

Intermediate
Tyrus Wong's story coming to America and the challenges he faced while creating art.
I'd like to have this book in my future classroom because it tells the story of someone who worked on a popular film, Bambi, that many kids might know but htey don't know the stories of who worked on it.

Primary-Intermediate
The life story of Tyrus Wong, from his immigration to animation work for Disney.
This story is beautiful, it would be a good example to use alongside learning about Angel Island or the Chinese Exclusion Act.

This book would be good for any age because it is a biography about Tyrus Wong. He came to America by ship as a 9 year old from China with his father. The U.S. gave him more opportunities to practice his art including: going to an art institute in Los Angeles, being a janitor and practicing drawing with a mop on the floor, working with Walt Disney and helping with the backgrounds of Bambi. This book would be great book for bringing awareness to immigration and art, as well as perseverance and determination.

The book is about a boy and his father who are immigrants traveling to America, the boy is into painting and art and gets his degree in it, he makes the art for Bambi but never gets the credit and gets fire, this shows racism in work field.
I think this is a very impactful book to show the reality of racism and hardship in our society at an age appropriate level. I would use this book in my classroom.

This is good for a primary or possibly intermediate age group. It tells the story of Tyrus Wong, a man who immigrated from China at a young age and went on to create backgrounds for Bambi. I would have it in my classroom; it could certainly be an inspiration for students facing adversity.

Goodreads Review:
An inspiring picture-book biography of animator Tyrus Wong, the Chinese American immigrant responsible for bringing Disney's Bambi to life.

Before he became an artist named Tyrus Wong, he was a boy named Wong Geng Yeo. He traveled across a vast ocean from China to America with only a suitcase and a few papers. Not papers for drawing--which he loved to do--but immigration papers to start a new life. Once in America, Tyrus seized every opportunity to make art, eventually enrolling at an art institute in Los Angeles. Working as a janitor at night, his mop twirled like a paintbrush in his hands. Eventually, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime--and using sparse brushstrokes and soft watercolors, Tyrus created the iconic backgrounds of Bambi.

Julie Leung and Chris Sasaki perfectly capture the beautiful life and work of a painter who came to this country with dreams and talent--and who changed the world of animation forever.

This picture book biography would be wonderful for intermediate readers. This book is about Tyrus Wong and his journey from coming to America as a child to making his mark in movies working for Walt Disney. This story would be great if you are looking for an interesting children-centered biography about someone who worked for Disney and/or if you wanted to highlight an incredible Asian American artist.

Cute glow-in-the-dark picture book of constellations. I appreciated that the book included stories from other cultures, mostly Indigenous American, but I do wish a couple of illustrations had shown those myths instead of just the Greek ones. Still, a good introduction.

I love when picture books introduce the reader to someone new. Until this book, I had never heard of Tyrus Wong, even if I have seen Bimbi too many times. I also never knew about “paper sons” and paper families who used fake identities to enter the US when specific cultures were banned. This story was so heartwarming, and at times sad. It follows the life of a man most won’t know, but will come to know, and start looking for his art.

Paper Son: The inspiring story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist tells the story of Tyrus Wong, who, along with his father, immigrated to the U.S. in 1919 at age nine. At this time, the Chinese Exclusion Act meant that only Chinese of high social status or those who had American citizens as blood relatives could enter the country. Many immigrants assumed false identities in order to be admitted, and these people became known as “paper” sons and daughters.

The author reports in her Afterword that between 1910 and 1940, over 170,000 Chinese were processed through Angel Island Immigration Station near San Francisco, and an estimated 80 to 90 percent of these were paper sons and daughters. Tyrus Wong and his father were among them.

Tyrus loved art, and his father borrowed money to send him to Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. He graduated at the top of his class and began working at Walt Disney Studios. He drew some backgrounds for the new movie being made, Bambi, and Walt Disney loved it. But Tyrus was fired after an employee strike, even though he did not participate. The author writes “It would be many years before the world say Tyrus Wong for the artist that he was,” although she does not mention how that came about. There is only a small amount of additional information in the Author’s Note. The illustrator, Chris Sasaki, also has a Note, however, in which he says that Tyrus Wong was a huge influence on him as an Asian American artist working in animation and illustration. Sasaki has worked at Pixar Animation Studios and the influence of his animation background is apparent in his art work for this book.

We do learn in Wong’s New York Times obituary:

"Mr. Wong died . . . at 106. A Hollywood studio artist, painter, printmaker, calligrapher, greeting-card illustrator and, in later years, maker of fantastical kites, he was one of the most celebrated Chinese-American artists of the 20th century.

Trained as a painter, Mr. Wong was a leading figure in the Modernist movement that flourished in California between the first and second World Wars. In 1932 and again in 1934, his work was included in group shows at the Art Institute of Chicago that also featured Picasso, Matisse and Paul Klee.

As a staff artist for Hollywood studios from the 1930s to the 1960s, he drew storyboards and made vibrant paintings, as detailed as any architectural illustrations, that helped the director envision each scene before it was shot."

Evaluation: The text could have used more background both on Wong and on the Chinese exclusionary laws in America. In addition, it would have been useful to know more about what Wong did artistically following Bambi.½

Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist, by Julie Leung and illustrated by Chris Sasaki, is the true story Wong Geng Yeo, who immigrated to America from China as a boy, enduring many difficulties and discrimination. Wong eventually made his way to the art institute in California and earned the opportunity to become an animator at Disney, creating iconic images for the movie Bambi.

This book is about an artist named Tyrus Wong who immigrated to America with his father at a young age. Ever since he was little, he loved to draw. His father worked hard to provide for him, sending him to Otis College of Art to continue chasing his passion for art. The author writes this book to honor Tyrus Wong, who has since passed away. This would be a great read for aspiring artists, those who have recently immigrated, and those who are Asian American. This would be a fitting book for those in early elementary school.

This book would really engage intermediate readers through its use of glow in the dark images of constellations that pair with the information about their layout, involved stars, and legendary story. Each major constellation shows the star layout, but also includes a more realistic image of the character to help readers visualize the layout. Instructions on how to find each constellation are also included for many and the end of the book contains several activities for astronomy lovers!
Students who are into legends or astronomy will really enjoy this book!

Primary; Intermediate; Informational; Biography; Historical; This follows the story of Tyrus Wong, a young boy who immigrated to America with his father, attended art school, and then worked for Disney, designing the background art for the movie Bambi. It was a great story of hard work and finding success despite his background and resources. I did find this book to have little closure as it ended rather abruptly after he got fired for striking at Disney. I also did not love that he and his father lied to come and he let his American teachers give him a new name. I know this is part of his real story, so it should not be changed, however it sends a message of dishonesty to kids as well as giving them the impression it is okay for teachers (or anyone) to not call them by their real name. Overall it was a good book with beautiful illustrations, but there are aspects I do not think are great.

Primary-Int. This book shares the true story of Chinese immigrant, Tyrus Wong and how he and his father worked hard for a better life in America. Tyrus followed his dream to be an artist and ended up doing lots of work on the Disney movie, Bambi, although he did not receive full credit. Great to have in the classroom and to use when talking about art or history.

This book is appropriate for the intermediate level. It's about a artist named Tyrus Wong. He was a immigrant to the United States and loved art his whole life. He got an opportunity to work for Walt Disney and Warner Bros in creating art pieces for their movies. This book is a great history lesson when talking about immigration and has relatable events with Disney.