When author and Los Altos resident Margaret Chiu Greanias wanted to write a children’s book reflecting her Taiwanese background, her editor recommended illustrator Tracy Subisak, who also has Taiwanese roots. Together, they created “Amah Faraway,” released in January by Bloomsbury Publishing.
The book tells the story of a child in America named Kylie, who is visiting her grandmother – or “Amah” – in Taiwan. At first, Kylie finds the experience foreign, but she eventually warms up to the new world around her.
“I was inspired by my memories of my relationship with my grandmother,” Greanias said. “Because I grew up in the United States and she was living in Taiwan, we didn’t see each other very often and so whenever I did see her, it always took a little bit of time to warm up. But by the end of our visits, I would remember how much I adored her.”
The experience came full circle when Greanias took her own children to Taiwan and her mother proudly showed them around, she said. Subisak shared a similar story about traveling with her brother’s family to Taiwan and said she was able to act as the host of the group. The illustrator, from Portland, Ore., said she chose to use strong reds and green for the book – colors that to her felt reminiscent of Taiwan.
“One thing that I focus on when illustrating any book is just making sure there’s a flow in the story, but also that the illustrations tell a story beyond what the text is telling, and also convey the emotion that the story is trying to convey, including the text,” Subisak said. “So, that’s something that I wanted to make sure to do. When I think about the style, and when I look back on how I created the artwork for it, there’s a sort of heavy nostalgia in it.”
Building relationships
Subisak said that if she had to pick one word to describe the book, she would choose “connection.”
“In the first half of the book, Kylie’s feeling very disconnected with her culture in Taiwan and with her Amah, when she’s just thrown into this new country,” Subisak said. “As she slowly connects with Amah and the food and the places, she’s really feeling how beautiful it is – you can see her excitement – and she longs to be back and she longs to get to connect to her Amah in whatever way possible.”
To make the book easy for readers of all ages to understand, Greanias said she had to condense the story and focus more on its driving message.
“When I’m coming up with a story, I usually think about what I want the story to be about, because picture books are only 500 words or less,” she said. “I try to really simplify my message as much as I can, so with this one, the message was about how even across distances and despite all the barriers to having a close relationship, you can overcome them, as (Kylie) overcame them, to have that close relationship with her grandmother.”
Greanias added that she hopes “Amah Faraway” can provide a glimpse into the experience of forming relationships with relatives who live in faraway places.
“This is a type of book that people actually can see themselves in and relate to,” she said, “because they also have family far away and have to deal with the barriers that distance and a different culture kind of throw up in between your relationships.”
To purchase “Amah Faraway” and for more information, visit www.bloomsbury.com/us/amah-faraway-9781547607211/.
