Allen Say

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  • Bibliography:
    25 Books
  • First Book:
    November 1988
  • Latest Book:
    October 2024
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Book List in Order: 25 titles

  • A River Dream

  • The Bicycle Man

    The amazing tricks two American soldiers perform on a borrowed bicycle are a fitting finale for the school sports day festivities in a small village in occupied Japan....

  • Tree of Cranes

    As a young Japanese boy recovers from a bad chill, his mother busily folds origami paper into delicate silver cranes in preparation for the boy's very first Christmas....

  • The Lost Lake

    Luke and his father, who is disgusted by the tourists surrounding the once secluded lake of his childhood, hike deeper into the wilderness to find a lost lake of their own. Say's watercolor paintings, embracing the many moods of the natural world, . ...

  • Grandfather's Journey

    The author-artist of Tree of Cranes provides a moving, beautifully illustrated study of his family's own cross-cultural experience, in personal reminiscences of his grandfather's life in America and Japan that convey a love for both countries...

  • El Chino

  • Emma's Rug

    Emma is a gifted young artist whose most prized possession is a small, shaggy rug. When her mother accidentally puts the rug in the washing machine and destroys it, Emma is devastated and ceases her art....

  • Under the Cherry Blossom Tree

    Spring had finally come and everyone in the village was happy, despite being poor - everyone except the miserly landlord. Mumbling and grumbling, he sat all alone eating a bowl of cherries and glaring as the villagers sang and danced in the meadow. T...

  • Allison

    When Allison, an Asian-American child, learns she is adopted, she becomes angry, withdrawn, and full of questions, until her discovery of a stray cat teaches her the true meaning of adoption and parental love....



  • Stranger in the Mirror

    Overnight, Martin has changed. His parents take him to one doctor after another, only to be told there is nothing wrong with their son. At school, his classmates will not play with him. At home his family tries to treat him as if he were the same chi...

  • Tea with Milk

    With elegant watercolors, Allen Say's beautiful picture book is a moving tribute to his parents and their path to discovering where home really is. At home in San Francisco, May speaks Japanese and the family eats rice and miso soup and drinks green ...

  • The Sign Painter

    In his Caldecott acceptance speech for GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, Allen Say told of his difficulty in separating his dreams from reality. For him this separation was not as important as finding a meaning behind the contradictions and choices we all must ...

  • The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice

    Thirteen-year-old Kiyoi, an apprentice to the famous cartoonist, Noro Shinpei, tries to develop his talent and become self-reliant, in this novel based upon the author's own boyhood in Japan....

  • Home of the Brave

    In dreamlike sequences, a man symbolically confronts the trauma of his family’s incarceration in the Japanese internment camps during World War II. This infamous event is made emotionally clear through his meeting a group of children all with stran...

  • Music for Alice

    As a girl, Alice loved to dance, but the rhythms of her life offered little opportunity for a foxtrot, let alone a waltz. World War II erupted soon after she was married. Alice and her husband, along with many other Japanese Americans, were forced to...

  • Kamishibai Man

    The Kamishibai man used to ride his bicycle into town where he would tell stories to the children and sell them candy, but gradually, fewer and fewer children came running at the sound of his clappers. They were all watching their new televisions ins...

  • Erika-San

    Caldecott Medalist Allen Say creates a beautiful story about an American girl who seeks adventure in Japan and discovers more than she could have imagined.

    In her grandmother’s house there is one Japanese print of a small house with lighted ...

  • The Boy in the Garden

    There was a story that Mama read to Jiro: Once, in old Japan, a young woodcutter lived alone in a little cottage. One winter day he found a crane struggling in a snare and set it free. When Jiro looks out the window into Mr. Ozu’s garden, he ...

  • The Favorite Daughter

    A father helps his daughter find pride and inspiration in this masterful picture book. Yuriko hates her name when the children make fun of it and call her "Eureka!" Though she is half Japanese, the teasing makes her want to hide, to retreat even f...



  • The Inker's Shadow

    Caldecott Medalist, Allen Say, presents a companion to his award-wining Drawing from Memory - the story of his coming-of-age at a military academy and the discovery of what it means to be American



    For Allen Say, life as teen i...

  • Silent Days, Silent Dreams

  • Almond

    Almond is a breathtaking and evocative story about finding your talent from Caldecott Medalist Allen Say.Everything changes for Almond Biggs when a new girl comes to school. The New Girl can play "The Flight of the Bumblebee" fast fast fast on her vi...

  • Miss Irwin

    Miss Irwin is a luminous and heartwarming story about the importance of capturing the light of precious memories before all is forgotten, from Caldecott Medalist Allen Say.As a young woman, Miss Irwin was a kindergarten teacher who loved introducing ...

  • Kozo the Sparrow

    **A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK OF 2023**Caldecott Medalist Allen Say's tale of a young boy who saves a baby bird from the local bullies is filled with compassion and empathy. Based on a true story and gorgeously illustrated, this story from ...

  • Tonbo

    In this semiautobiographical story told through the eyes of a man who ages backward, Caldecott medalist Allen Say reveals the power of memory to shape one’s art.As an old man takes a morning walk, he is startled by a paper airplane overhead. He...

Award-Winning Books by Allen Say

Grandfather's Journey
1994 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award -- Picture Book
1994 Caldecott Medal -- Picture Book
Kamishibai Man
2005 Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) -- Gold
Tea with Milk
2000 Children's Books of Distinction Award -- Picture Book
Tree of Cranes
1992 PEN Literary Award -- Children/Young Adult


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Allen Say has published 25 books.

Allen Say does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Tonbo, was published in October 2024.

The first book by Allen Say, A River Dream, was published in November 1988.

No. Allen Say does not write books in series.
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