Picture Book about Moving

Picture Book Review – Yuna’s Cardboard Castles

 

 

YUNA’S CARDBOARD CASTLES

Written by Marie Tang

Illustrated by Jieting Chen

(Beaming Books; $18.99, Ages 3-8)

 

 

Yuna's Cardboard Castles cover Yuna in Japan with origami

 

In Yuna’s Cardboard Castles, the heartwarming picture book debut from author Marie Tang, illustrated by Jieting Chen, readers meet Yuna, who has just moved with her family to America from Japan. Like most children in that situation, Yuna is filled with concerns about what life will be like in her new home and how she’ll make new friends. The extra challenge Yuna faces is that she doesn’t speak English yet. While she misses her old friends and all that is familiar, Yuna is eager to find a way to connect with local kids.

 

Yuna's Cardboard Castles int1 Yuna longed for the colors and shapes
Interior spread from Yuna’s Cardboard Castles written by Marie Tang and illustrated by Jieting Chen, Beaming Books ©2023.

 

It’s great to see Yuna take the initiative to look for ways to break the ice with the children in her neighborhood. At first, she tries making balls out of colorful paper. The results are lovely and impressive, highlighting her skills. However, Yuna feels discouraged after noticing children already have balls to play with. Onto the next option.

Thinking about where she used to live, Yuna longs to reproduce that environment where there were pointy buildings and rice cake stands. She cleverly uses cardboard and scissors to construct her very own stand but she’s at a loss to find the words to explain her project and the food on display. So, the neighborhood kids return “back to their tea parties.”

 

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Interior spread from Yuna’s Cardboard Castles written by Marie Tang and illustrated by Jieting Chen, Beaming Books ©2023.

 

And though with her talent, Yuna can build almost anything she wants, she still feels the disconnect without the language to communicate. She is sad, frustrated, and isolated.

When a boy’s kite gets tangled in her yard, the two soon find common ground with their paper creations. Teaming up, their imaginations soar, and playing together becomes second nature. Soon, the neighborhood kids can’t help but engage with Yuna and the exciting cardboard world she’s constructed with her new friend. Chen’s vivid illustrations convey energy, enjoyment, and make-believe, filling each page with wonder to inspire children as they read  Tang’s thoughtful story.

When my family lived overseas for 10 years, our children played with other children from around the world whether we traveled to Germany, France, the Canary Islands, Italy, or Greece. Watching kids connect despite not having the words is always joyful to watch. Play is a universal language bringing diverse children together wherever you are. Yuna’s Cardboard Castles was inspired by Tang’s childhood experience of moving from Hong Kong to the United States. In the book, Yuna demonstrates how, just as Tang did as a child, using origami and corrugated boxes can open up worlds of opportunities for friendship when you have only a minimal grasp of your new country’s language. While the immigration experience is different for every child, Tang’s book creatively captures the emotion Yuna feels while presenting a positive way to cope that is empowering. Four pages of backmatter include detailed instructions to make an origami boat … “that can actually float!”

  • Reviewed by Ronna Mandel
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Picture Book Review – The Homesick Club

THE HOMESICK CLUB

Written by Libby Martinez

Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

(Groundwood Books; $17.95; Ages 4-7)

 

The Homesick Club cover

 

 

Written by Libby Martinez and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon, The Homesick Club expresses the longing for home and connection. 

Mónica and her best friend, Hannah, share a special bond: they are both immigrants.

Mónica is from Bolivia and Hannah is from Israel. Together they form The Homesick Club, complete with a handmade sign they display on their lunchtime table illustrating their favorite memories from their respective homelands.  Mónica yearns for the mango trees, green vines, and the “family of hummingbirds” that she and her grandmother would feed every morning. Similarly, Hannah misses the warm weather, sandy dunes, desert whistling wind, and a neighborhood tortoise. Their conversations highlight how different aspects of a landscape make it a unique and special place called home.
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Interior artwork from The Homesick Club written by Libby Martinez and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon, Groundwood Books ©2020.

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When they meet their new teacher, Miss Shelby, they discover she too is far away from her home, Texas. Ironically, as Mónica and her teacher discuss their different backgrounds, they discover how much they have in common. Mónica’s beautiful transitions from English to Spanish echo Miss Shelby’s “soft and slow” voice, “like…words…stuck together with syrup.” They miss similar things from back home, too:  a “big and wide” sky that displays an abundance of stars as well as hummingbirds. Mónica misses seeing them since the big city noise “probably scares them away.” Miss Shelby longs for her favorite hometown dessert, hummingbird cake, “sooooo sweet, like the flowers that hummingbirds drink from.” Gibbon’s bright and friendly illustrations include rich detail that expresses the individual personalities of each character. 

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TheHomesickClub int2
Interior artwork from The Homesick Club written by Libby Martinez and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon, Groundwood Books ©2020.

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In honor of her beloved hummingbirds and a budding friendship with her new teacher, Mónica prepares a surprise to share with everyone during Show and Tell. Through this kind gesture, she is able to bring a little bit of home back to both of them and to us readers who are gifted with the recipe at the end of the story. 

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TheHomesickClub int3
Interior artwork from The Homesick Club written by Libby Martinez and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon, Groundwood Books ©2020.

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A great conversation starter on issues of diversity and geography, The Homesick Club reminds us that though we may look different and come from different parts of the world, we have many experiences connecting us. 

  •  Reviewed by Armineh Manookiane
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    Click here to see How To Bake Hummingbird Cake with Author Libby Martinez
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    Click here to order a copy of The Homesick Club.
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    Recommended Reads for the Week of 10/19/20

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Rose and the Wish Thing by Caroline Magerl

ROSE AND THE WISH THING
A Journey of Friendship
Written and Illustrated by Caroline Magerl
(Doubleday Books for Young Readers; $16.99, Ages 3 – 7)

… is reviewed today by Cathy Ballou Mealey

Rose_and_the_Wish_Thing

A delicate, rich tale, Rose and the Wish Thing is, as its subtitle suggests, a “journey of friendship” between a young girl and the magical creature that springs from her imagination as the result of a wish.

On the first page, Rose stares wistfully, perhaps glumly, from her window. She’s a small figure looking out at a large, unfamiliar cityscape. Boxes are unpacked, and Mama puts her to bed with stories and shadow puppets, but Rose can’t sleep. She looks out from her new window with a telescope that resembles a simple, curled cardboard tube. Then she wishes for … something. Far away, that something – a long eared, soft muzzled furry critter – awakes. Straightaway, it sets off on a journey to Rose in a battered, tagged, stamped box.

And what a journey! In enthralling double page spreads Magerl depicts the creature riding gondola- style through a snowy mountain pass, then blown higher than the clouds by a striped sail, and washed over turbulent seas above cresting waves. These elegant travel scenes, intricately hashed with tiny black lines, show the tiny animal, brave and steadfast, battling the elements on its quest.

Rose waits. And waits. She snuggles with her dog, beats a saucepan drum, draws her wish creature, and worries that the thing will not come. Eventually her family begins to help in her search, heading out into their new city to find the sea and “listen to the hush and growl of the waves.” The box and the creature finally reach their destination, washing near the pier. Rose’s mother helps her stretch far, far out to pluck her new friend from the water.

Magerl alternates the large, exciting spreads of the Wish Thing’s journey with vignettes from Rose’s warm, caring home life, compelling the reader to keep turning the pages. The tale unfolds at a gentle pace, perfectly balanced between lilting text and soft, misty illustrations. The mysterious look of the Wish Thing, accompanied on its travels by playful flying fish-birds, adds to the enchanting, magical air of the story.

This Australian import, first published under the title Hasel and Rose will fascinate young readers who ponder faraway lands or imagine unconventional travel. For those who have also felt new and alone, this tale of longing and friendships found will touch a deep chord.

 

  • Reviewed by Cathy Ballou Mealey

 

Where Obtained:  I reviewed a copy of ROSE AND THE WISH THING from the publisher and received no other compensation. The opinions expressed here are my own.

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Bad Bye, Good Bye by Deborah Underwood

Bad Bye, Good Bye by Deborah Underwood
with illustrations by Jonathan Bean
is reviewed by Ronna Mandel.

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Bad Bye, Good Bye written by Deborah Underwood with illustrations by Jonathan Bean, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

Bad Bye, Good Bye (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, $16.99, Ages 4-8) is such a great title. Even my almost 13-year-old who hasn’t read picture books for quite some time remarked about how clever the title was and how he instantly knew what the book would be about.

Families move. It happens all the time. Moms or Dads get new jobs and whammo, it’s time to pack up, head to another city (or country as it was in our case) and start all over again. It’s never easy to move and leave behind all we know and love, but having a picture book like Bad Bye, Good Bye to share with kids when relocating can really help parents broach the topic gently and also help kids open up about their hopes and fears.

As I mentioned earlier, Bad Bye, Good Bye is such a terrific title that I’m surprised no one thought of it sooner. Having moved three times with my children because of my husband’s job, I know firsthand how unsettling and sad it can be for youngsters. If the change is hard and stressful for an adult, imagine how overwhelming it is for little ones who don’t have all the coping skills yet in place for dealing with these kinds of major life events. Underwood wastes no time in setting the scene by beginning the picture book with moving men loading a family’s belongings onto a moving van while two red-faced children cry. In fact the little boy even clings to a mover’s leg in an attempt to stop him. Everything is rotten.

Bad day,
Bad box,
Bad mop,
Bad blocks.

What can go right for this brother and sister who do not want to leave their home and their friends? Even their car journey to their new home is filled with anxiety. The sparse rhyming text manages to convey the reluctance of the kids even as the artwork begins to show more positive parts of moving.

As the jacket flap copy reads: “Bad Bye, Good Bye is perfect for moving day or any of life’s tough transitions.” What parents can do is have this book on hand to read when there are no big moves planned so children can see that not all aspects of a move or a change are sad. For example, one of the two child characters in the story meets a neighborhood boy he spies from upstairs while he’s checking out his new bedroom and soon they’re watching fireflies light up the night together.

New kid,
Good throw,
New Bugs,
Good glow.

Bean’s illustrations work beautifully with the text. His paintings combine both the deep darker colors of the mood everyone is feeling as well as less prominent sketches on the same page to indicate movement and progression of time. I cannot picture this book with anything but these illustrations because they’re so full of the emotion and local color that Underwood’s story has set up so well. As someone who has experienced the sadness and apprehension of moving multiple times with my young children, I would not hesitate to recommend reading Bad Bye, Good Bye as a way to make any move or change acceptable and perhaps even looked forward to!

And for a bonus – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s provided a page of moving tips for families you can find by clicking here.

 


 

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