Paper Son

The Inspiring Story of
Tyrus Wong,
Immigrant and Artist

Schwartz & Wade Books
40 pages 
(9.24.2019)

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Julie Leung
      and illustrator: Chris Sasaki

 
C haracter: Tyrus Wong

O verview: 
     "Before he became Tyrus Wong, he was a nine-year-old boy on a ship who left behind his mother and homeland for an unknown place his father called Gold Mountain.
      Before he was the creative force behind Walt Disney's Bambi, he was a school janitor who worked nights, painting the floors with a mop as though it was his paintbrush. 
      Before he mesmerized animators around the world with his unique style and generous spirit, he was a 'paper son.'"

T antalizing taste: 
     "At last, they arrived at Angel Island.
      His father, who had been in America before, cleared immigration quickly.
      But the boy was held back.

      Scared and alone, Geng Yeo was taken to a wooden house filled with  strangers.
     There, he waited.

     Days turned to weeks.
     This new land was not what he expected.
     The streets were not lined with gold.
     The barracks were crowded and dirty.
     He missed his father very much.

     There was no drawing paper.
     No ink. No paint.
     He watched the sun move slowly across the sky,
     always arching back toward the home he'd left behind." 

And something more: Julie Leung's Author's Note explains that "From 1910 to 1940, over 170,000 Chinese were processed through Angel Island Immigration Station outside San Francisco Bay. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of them were paper sons and daughters, among them Tyrus Wong and his father. From those humble beginnings, Tyrus would go on to graduate from Otis Art Institute with honors. In a time when most Chinese immigrants worked as manual laborers, this was no small feat."  
     From where I live, I can see Angel Island which is now a state recreation park and historical site. It's powerful to think of the history and experiences of the thousands of immigrants who arrived there, "the Ellis Island of the West." And, as we are all self-isolating with the COVID-19 pandemic, I think of this young boy waiting alone in "a house full of strangers." I treasure our ways of being able to connect to each other virtually, and hope we too can help anyone feeling alone.