Between Words: A Friendship Tale
Between Words: A Friendship Tale
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Publisher's Hardcover ©2024--
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Orchard Books
Annotation: You don't always need words to make a friendship bloom. A touching ode to connection and belonging by debut picture book... more
 
Reviews: 2
Catalog Number: #389350
Format: Publisher's Hardcover
Publisher: Orchard Books
Copyright Date: 2024
Edition Date: 2024 Release Date: 05/21/24
Pages: 1 volume (unpaged)
ISBN: 1-338-73625-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-338-73625-0
Dewey: E
LCCN: 2023022109
Dimensions: 26 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

How do you find the right words to make a friend?Young Kai lives a nomadic life with his father, setting up camp "on windy plains, by lapping lakes, near dusty villages." Everywhere, Kai sees children talking and playing, but he doesn't join in, self-conscious about his language barrier and other differences. Instead, he finds solace in creating piles of rocks that mark their home for as long as they stay in one place. Kai tops each cairn with his favorite spotted rock, which resembles the night sky. When Kai's father decides they'll stay in one place for a while, Kai tries to talk to the other children. But they laugh at his strange words and run away. In anger, Kai smashes his cairn, kicking his special rock into the sea. Stricken, he jumps in after it and meets a young mermaid who understands his stone-building language. Vivid, wordless scenes awash in sea-glass green with yellow, orange, and red accents convey the warmth and playfulness of the children's interactions. Kai gifts his special stone to his new friend and returns to land, having found the language he needs to build a new friendship. Through powerful visual storytelling, this exquisite tale makes clear that words aren't necessary to develop a truly lasting bond. Characters are brown-skinned; in an author's note, Tanaka explains how she drew on her Japanese and Mexican heritage to develop Kai's story.A pitch-perfect tale for shy friend-makers everywhere. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

How do you find the right words to make a friend?Young Kai lives a nomadic life with his father, setting up camp "on windy plains, by lapping lakes, near dusty villages." Everywhere, Kai sees children talking and playing, but he doesn't join in, self-conscious about his language barrier and other differences. Instead, he finds solace in creating piles of rocks that mark their home for as long as they stay in one place. Kai tops each cairn with his favorite spotted rock, which resembles the night sky. When Kai's father decides they'll stay in one place for a while, Kai tries to talk to the other children. But they laugh at his strange words and run away. In anger, Kai smashes his cairn, kicking his special rock into the sea. Stricken, he jumps in after it and meets a young mermaid who understands his stone-building language. Vivid, wordless scenes awash in sea-glass green with yellow, orange, and red accents convey the warmth and playfulness of the children's interactions. Kai gifts his special stone to his new friend and returns to land, having found the language he needs to build a new friendship. Through powerful visual storytelling, this exquisite tale makes clear that words aren't necessary to develop a truly lasting bond. Characters are brown-skinned; in an author's note, Tanaka explains how she drew on her Japanese and Mexican heritage to develop Kai's story.A pitch-perfect tale for shy friend-makers everywhere. (Picture book. 3-6)

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Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)
Kirkus Reviews
Reading Level: 2.0
Interest Level: K-3

You don't always need words to make a friendship bloom. A touching ode to connection and belonging by debut picture book author-illustrator, Saki Tanaka.

Kai is used to following the seasons with Pa, from place to new place where people speak languages unfamiliar to his ears. When they finally settle in a valley full of pools, Kai tries to invite the other children to join in his play, but the strangeness of his words drives them away. Frustrated, he kicks his most treasured stone into one of the pools and in his search for it, finds something even more valuable.

Dive into a whimsical tale of unexpected friendship, told with compassion and warmth. With every brushstroke, Saki Tanaka paints a radiant world where bonds are formed beyond language barriers.


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