Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

A child of Vietnamese descent helps his grandmother get acclimated to their home in the United States.Felix meets his grandma for the first time when she arrives from Vietnam to live with his family. The two quickly bond over pizza, music, and gardening. One day, Grandma gets lost at a city festival and, because she doesn't speak English, can't ask for help. Felix finds her and, later, decides to teach her English. He makes flashcards for different words, helping his grandma learn new words until "words became phrases. And phrases became sentences." With a stronger command of English, Grandma begins to make new friends and navigates their world with greater ease. There is a beautiful sense of symmetry in Felix and his grandma's relationship as they connect over their interests and lovingly support each other through challenges. Ho's digital illustrations are simply stunning. Vivid colors and sunlight permeate each scene, creating a sense of warmth and joy that thrums through the book even during difficult moments. Eye-catching visual details, from the various people in the crowd scenes to the flashcards in the endpapers, add depth and personality to the world they live in. The tale wraps up with a recipe for Vietnamese pizza, just like the one that Grandma makes.A heartwarming tale of intergenerational bonding. (Vietnamese-English glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

PreS-Gr 3 —This story of a Vietnamese American family and Grandma's immigration to the United States has all the right ingredients: beauty, warmth, and relatability. Felix meets Grandma for the first time when she moves from Vietnam to live with Felix and his family. He teaches her all sorts of things, like how to play the drums and care for his pet iguana. Grandma teaches Felix, too, like a song from her childhood and how to grow a vegetable garden. But when they get separated at a festival, Grandma realizes there is one more thing she'd like to learn: English. Krans's text feels down-to-earth and authentic, deftly conveying respect for Felix and Grandma as both learners and as experts in their different ways. Ho ( Eyes that Kiss in the Corners ) uses a palette of complementary yellows, blues, greens, and reds to show the joyful home of this Vietnamese American family. English/Vietnamese flashcards in hand-lettering with child-like crayon drawings are sprinkled throughout the pages and plaster the bookends. A recipe for "Vietnamese pizza" at the end gives readers the opportunity to learn right alongside Felix and Grandma. VERDICT Recommended for every collection, but especially those with immigrant populations.—Hillary Perelyubskiy

ALA Booklist (Wed Dec 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

When Felix's grandma moves from Vietnam to come live with her family, there is an instant connection despite the language barrier. Felix shows her around the city that will be her new home, and she shows him pictures of the village where she lived. They make music and care for the garden, all seemingly without much speaking. One day Felix and Grandma get separated at a crowded festival, and Grandma's inability to ask for help in English signals a very real disadvantage in her new environment. Felix decides to teach her, and in turn she teaches him Vietnamese. Words between Us is a tender, respectful depiction of a frequently occurring situation as older generations migrate to the U.S. The illustrations are colorful and add a sense of whimsy while capturing the strong, loving bond between Felix and Grandma. Their language lessons are depicted with speech bubbles so we can almost hear her pronunciation as she learns to say and make Felix's favorite food, peet suh! The recipe at the end is a bonus in this delightful story.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A child of Vietnamese descent helps his grandmother get acclimated to their home in the United States.Felix meets his grandma for the first time when she arrives from Vietnam to live with his family. The two quickly bond over pizza, music, and gardening. One day, Grandma gets lost at a city festival and, because she doesn't speak English, can't ask for help. Felix finds her and, later, decides to teach her English. He makes flashcards for different words, helping his grandma learn new words until "words became phrases. And phrases became sentences." With a stronger command of English, Grandma begins to make new friends and navigates their world with greater ease. There is a beautiful sense of symmetry in Felix and his grandma's relationship as they connect over their interests and lovingly support each other through challenges. Ho's digital illustrations are simply stunning. Vivid colors and sunlight permeate each scene, creating a sense of warmth and joy that thrums through the book even during difficult moments. Eye-catching visual details, from the various people in the crowd scenes to the flashcards in the endpapers, add depth and personality to the world they live in. The tale wraps up with a recipe for Vietnamese pizza, just like the one that Grandma makes.A heartwarming tale of intergenerational bonding. (Vietnamese-English glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Humor and empathy guide a Vietnamese American boy’s attempts to acclimate his grandmother to a new home and language in this tenderhearted title. When Grandma leaves Vietnam to live with Felix’s family, he makes his favorite food for her first special dinner: “ ‘Peet suh,’ Grandma said. It was her first meal in America and the first English word Felix taught her.” Shared activities deepen their connection, but when they’re briefly separated during a visit to the city’s biggest festival, “Felix didn’t like Grandma being scared” (“People were very nice, but they didn’t understand me,” Grandma notes), prompting Felix to begin teaching her English. Pham Krans and Ho build a well-paced story around simple scenes in which the two characters bond—looking at photos, playing music, caring for a pet, gardening—and experience moments when “they didn’t need to say anything at all.” Buoyant digital illustrations capture domestic family life and busy city scenes. A recipe for Vietnamese pizza concludes. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)