I was searching through my notes about historical picture books and come across this pair, each based on the true story of the author’s grandparent(s) immigrating to America.

Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say (Houghton Mifflin, 1993)

Allen Say’s spare text and beautiful paintings tell the story of his grandfather’s move from Japan to California. Many years later he returns to Japan and when he wants to visit California again, he is prevented by war. At the end the grandson describes his move to California. The theme of homesickness is poignantly presented. The illustrations show landscapes and people with just one or two sentences per page. Recommended for ages 5 to 7.

Anna and Solomon by Elaine Snyder (illustrated by Harry Bliss) (Farrar Strauss Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2014)

In this picture book geared toward young readers Snyder tells the true story of her grandparents immigrating to America from Russia due to the persecution of Jews. Solomon leaves first and finds a job to make money to send for Anna, but every time he saves enough she sends one of her relatives instead, to make sure they are all taken care of. Although the illustrations are a little too comic book style for my taste, I appreciated the author’s note telling about the rest of her grandparents’ lives and including four black and white photographs. Recommended for ages 5 to 7.