Thao LamRezensionen

This is a wordless picture book that tells an amazing story. Someone wants to be an astronaut and play dress up. They go on fantastic adventures in space where they find new birds, meet new monsters, and discover space. A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing to see, and that is what this book points out. The artwork is done through scrapbooking and paper manipulation and it’s beautiful. It has that feel of “hey, maybe I could do this”. “Maybe I could be an astronaut” but also “maybe I could be the artist”. Took no words to get the point across. This is what wordless picture books should be.½

K-Gr 2—A deeply personal, soul-baring story showcasing a mother's love at the face of horrific events, never shying
away from the truth that has happened. In emotional cut-paper scenes, the plight of immigrants today connects with
the harrowing refugee stories from the past.

I am a sucker for any book crafted with paper cutouts or paper collage; I personally find the medium really beautiful and inspiring, so Lam's "Wallpaper" was a treat to read. Although the book is almost completely wordless, Lam still crafts a thoroughly engaging world that the reader falls right into. It's a word of vibrant colors and catchy patterns, and the book has a warm little message rooted at its center.

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I think that this is one of the most fabulous children's books that I have ever seen. The incredible imagination and detail that went into it! It's gorgeous and breathtaking.

Kirkus: "A refugee story features distinctive artwork honoring courage, kindness, and memory. A child-centered retelling of one family's escape from Communist-ruled Vietnam, this wordless picture book renders a harrowing experience through clever uses of paper craft. From the outset, a visual motif of ants is key in unfolding the story....A timely, resonant, exceptional model of visual storytelling..."

A creature wanders the beach, dragging a stick, which makes the titular line in the sand - creating divisions and arguments in its wake, until all the creatures realize the fighting is silly and the line is arbitrary.

This story is great for a history lesson on the Vietnam War and the hardships that refugees experience. It could be paired with Inside Out and Back Again, or When stars Are Scattered. It discusses trauma, sadness, fear, and portrays. so much emotion without saying a word. The afterword is important to read for older children. The ants make it approachable, but the characters make it culturally responsive.

Wordless picture books are so hard to do and do right, and I think this one does it right. This is about two creatures that meet at a party and a line has been drawn. But they’re trying to get each other ‘s attention and communicate when there are no words. This story could be almost anything but it’s to me it’s about playing together and finding common interests. The artwork feels both retro and 70s but a modern take. The times where there’s the speckled background or the plain background maybe that’s meant to mean dirt or sand, I’m not quite sure. What I am sure of is it all came together in a fun story that you get to create yourself. The reader gets to tell the Story Using what they interpret from the pictures. This is something kids will love to do once given chance.

Thao Lam's picture book of wordless cutouts does an excellent job of conveying the fear, desperation, and uncertainty felt by the fleeing refugees. The author's note at the end adds context to the pictures, and provides a coda to the story.

Received via NetGalley.

This book is a great example of how people of color are discriminated against in the United States. It shows students that this can be as simple as mispronouncing someone's name and not caring enough to learn how to correct yourself. It helps students reflect on the discrimination their fellow classmates might be facing, or even reflect on discrimination they've faced. It's also a great way to open up the room for discussion.

A skunk with a red balloon tied to its tail floats through a parade, through a neighborhood, a construction zone, a zoo; hitches a ride on a garbage truck; explores an ocean, a desert, and a fair. At the top of a ferris wheel, the skunk lets go of its balloon, but immediately afterward commandeers a whole cart-ful of balloons and goes sailing off again. Colored and textured paper illustrations may inspire readers to make some wordless art of their own!½

Wordless book using layered paper artwork; Illustrates endurance and resilience of human spirit

Humorous and light-hearted take on mispronunciation and interpretations of Vietnamese names; Autobiographical

really great illustrations to help tell a very dark story.

This picture book is about a young girl who just moved into a new home and is too shy to play with the kids next door. She creates an imaginary monster friend who comes out of the wallpaper in her home, and she plays with him. There are only a few words placed throughout the whole book such as "hello" and "blah blah". I think this is a great book for primary students to read because there aren't really any words and allows them to be creative with the story and create their own storyline. This would be really fun to use in the classroom. I think that for intermediate students that you could use this book and have them write sentences to go with each page and have them create a story.

This book is about a girl who is shy and struggles to introduce herself to other children, so she stays inside and discovers a world of possibilities through the different wallpapers in her room. After playing on her own with all of the wallpaper, she gains the courage to say hello to some other girls outside. This book does a great job communicating the real struggle with making friends and having the confidence to go up to other kids, but the lack of dialogue in the story would make it not a great choice for a read aloud. This book would be appropriate for primary to intermediate readers.