Hundred Years of Happiness by Thanhha Lai, Kim Lien, Nguyen Quang
Published by HarperCollins on April 5, 2022
ISBN: 0063026929
Pages: 32
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads

In this sweet, tender, emotional picture book overarching themes of love, family, grandparents, and the challenges of memory loss prevail as does the caring relationship between a young Vietnamese girl and her grandparents; especially the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. All of this caring is wrapped around the need to spark a memory – any memory – for An’s grandmother. The text is lyrical and filled with references to a particular Vietnamese fruit – the orange/red gac fruit. Both An and her grandfather hope to sprout, plant, and nurture the seeds for this fruit in hopes of returning Ba’s memory to a place of when she and Ong pledged to one another “the hundred years of happiness” on the day they were married.

The illustrations are vivid, yet soft and lovely. The wrap-around cover art sets the stage with its visuals of what’s to be told once the book is open. The facial expressions of each family member evoke tenderness, sadness, astonishment, joy and bring to life each person as they work hard to achieve a brief moment of hope, the return of Ba’s memory. At the same time, all of this is woven around the life cycle of gac seedlings, planting, vine growth, cooking, eating, and delighting in the deliciousness of a tasty memorable dish.

It is a lovely story that will most likely have you wiping a tear or two from your eyes, especially when Ong “blinks moisture” while watching as his beloved Ba eats her bowl of gac fruit with sticky rice.

There is A Note from the Author on the last page spread. It contains a short memorable recollection of a time when she traveled to Viet Nam and sampled gac fruit. Also included is a beloved recipe from the illustrator, Kim Lien’s mother, for Gac Sticky Rice.

Recommended for grades 2-4
Reviewed by Terri Bauld, Louis T. Graves Memorial Library