Art Memoir - Crescenciana

• Crescenciana is a memoir and art book about Kenneth's lola (Tagalog for "grandma"), with illustrations they made together between 2014 and 2021.

• Hardcover.

• Printed in the United States.

• 9" wide by 12" tall.

• Over 80 full-color illustrations.

• 240 pages.

• ISBN-13: 978-0578315829

• To read excerpts from the book, please click here.

• Find reader reviews of the book on Goodreads here.

Summary

Seated side-by-side at their kitchen table in San Jose, California, ninety-four year old Crescenciana Tan and her grandson, Kenneth Tan, got to work. Crescenciana made watercolor paintings and Kenneth drew her memories on top of them. When Crescenciana passed, she left behind all of her paintings, and Kenneth decided he would finish everything she started. He promised.

In Crescenciana, Kenneth weaves together their artwork, conversations, and memoirs to tell his grandmother’s life story. With heart and humor, he recounts Crescenciana’s childhood antics in the Philippines, her fall on black ice outside of a church in Canada, and her show-stopping civics test performance that earned her citizenship in the United States. At the same time, he revisits her memories as a survivor of World War II and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, and he reflects on his own continuing grief since her passing.

Crescenciana is a memoir and art book about carrying and commemorating your family’s stories. It’s a book about moving forward without leaving your loved ones behind.

Reviews

"These short stories wrap the reader into moments of understanding and experiencing joy, of connection, of grief, of pain, but most importantly, of love....simply put this book is already one of my favorite books of all time." -Chris Calimlim, The International Examiner. Read More

"One can say Tan’s story speaks so much to the Filipino-American experience, and at the same time, tells his own personal and unique love story through his Lola Crescenciana." -Elsa Valmidiano, COLLIDESCOPE. Read More