Ina R. Friedman

This is a very sweet book about cultures coming together.

A young girl recounts the heartwarming story of her parents' courtship as her father, an American sailor stationed in Japan, and her mother, a Japanese girl, worry about going on their first dinner date. The sailor worries about looking foolish using chopsticks, and the Japanese girl knows she will be confused by when to use a knife, fork or spoon.

The book is wonderful in every way. But after 30 years of read-alouds, I finally noticed that the illustration used as cover art could almost be a street scene by Hiroshi Yoshida, it's so firmly in the tradition of Japanese woodblock art.

A young girl tells the story of her parents' courtship when the father was an American sailor and the mother was a Japanese schoolgirl.