The glorious day when a young child is old enough to join her family in bringing gifts to their ancestors in the graveyard has finally arrived. Thanh-Minh goes with great anticipation and is greeted by an old, frightening looking lady name Ba-Nam. With her black teeth, Ba-Nam smiles and frightens Thanh-Minh. Thanh-Minh and her cousin wonder off to pick fruit from the trees in the graveyard as their family is offering the gifts when a sudden rainstorm comes upon them. Frightened by the darkened sky, rain and thunder, the children find comfort in Ba-Nam who shelters them through the night. As morning comes, the family is grateful for the children's safe return and thanks Ba-Nam for her help and Ba-Nam jokes that now that the storm has thrown all of the fruit off of the trees, the children do not have to wonder off to climb trees for the fruit. This book's message is not to judge people by their appearances. As Thanh-Minh thought Ba-Nam was terrifying, Ba-Nam ends up saving Thanh-Minh and her cousin. ( )

In Vietnam, there is a special day call Thanh Minh, which means "pure and bright", and on this day, Vietnamese families visit the graves of their ancestors and pray and present gifts to the ancestors as an offering. For Nan, she is old enough to be able to visit her family's ancestors as she and her family visit the grave site. She meets the grave keeper name Ba-Nam, who is in charge of looking over the graveyard of the Vietnamese family's ancestors. At first, Nan is scared and turn off by Ba Nam due to her old deep wrinkle looks. When she and her cousin Keung go away from the graveyard to climb up trees and pick fruits off the trees, they get strand in the middle of the thunderstorm. As they make their way back to the graveyard, they encounter Ba-Nam, who safely comforts the two of them. They wait until morning to return to the graveyard and Nan learns to accept Ba-Nam despite her looks. In the end, no matter how a person looks, don't judge a person by their look because appearances can be deceiving. This theme is demonstrated in this book as Nan realizes that Ba-Nam is nice and helpful when she protects Nan from the thunder during a thunderstorm. Because the book is written based on the author's experienced, the reader can feel and experience the author's experience in the book through the characters, setting, plot, and theme. The cultural practice of Vietnamese people praying to ancestor is common in Vietnam because I know my parents have done that in Vietnam and since my parents emigrated to the USA during the Vietnam War, my parents don't practice the ritual anymore. My mother does when she visits Vietnam from time to time. Overall, I enjoy the book and I appreciate the Vietnamese cultural practice and beliefs of praying to ancestors. ( )

Thanh-Min Day is a day in Vietnames culture where families visit and make offerings at the graves of their ancestors. Two cousins, Nan and Keung, are excited as they help pack up the car. Upon reaching the cemetery, the two learn of a bizarre woman who takes care of the graves. The grave keeper is named Ban-Nam and is completely bent over. The children are scared of this woman until they are caught in a terrible storm and Ban-Nam is there to rescue them. They become good friends with the strange woman and learn a great deal about their culture. ( )