The Paper Boat

Reading the authors note at the end may help make sense of this gorgeous and wordless story. Told from the start through the end pages, we notice a stray ant crawl out from newspapers detailing accounts of war in Vietnam and the ant becomes ants clamoring on a table filled with food.

As the ants climb up a bowl already filled with liquid, more contents are poured into the bowl, and in walks a child who looks on sadly, trying to rescue ants with chopsticks.

And so begins Lam’s account of survival, recalled from the tender age of two. Through wonderfully detailed images (the tank approaching in the window, the looks of pain and sorrow on the faces of adults) we witness a family fleeing, hiding in tall grass as men with guns approach.

Perhaps the most serious of work, her skill as a visual storyteller excels in the way she depicts the dangerous journey across the sea. Here the wordlessness works as there is much to ”read” about the journey: the relentless sun, threatening forces (both animal and nature), the persistent hunger.

A wonderful work that can be added to a growing collection that accounts the refugee experience (see Applegate’s Home of the Brave, Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, Sanna’s The Journey or Bui’s A Different Pond.)

The illustrations in the book are amazing, along with how a migrant story is told with ants. I also enjoyed at the end the telling of the story and the reason ants were used in comparison.

An excellent storybook with lovely illustrations, a great allegory, and a wonderful true story that I really connected to in a deep, visceral way.

A fascinating, emotional, wordless picture book. It is about the Vietnam War and being forced to flee as a refugee. Within the story is an allegory about ants. Since it contains no words, it forces the reader to pay attention to what is happening in each picture. The illustrations are absolutely wonderful and convey heavy emotions. The allegory about ants is a little confusing, but clarified well with the author's note at the end. This would be great for older elementary age students to teach about this complex and devastating subject matter. Even middle and high school students and adults could benefit from reading this.

Thank you NetGalley and OwlKids Books for providing this ARC.

This is a powerful picture book (wordless) that tells the author's story of being a Vietnamese refugee as a child. In it he compares the refugee experience to that of ants, who have to move on and rebuild their colonies when destroyed. It is an excellent conversation starter for students to dive deeply into the refugee experience. It is a book best explored in the context of world history and social emotional education with the support of an adult reader to guide the children through the impactful layered meanings and themes of the book. Conversations for this book are suitable for kindergarten through adult.

I think a print copy of this book is best. The digital copy doesn't have the impact I think it would have otherwise. Also, the Author's Note is so important to understanding this story and should probably be at the beginning of the book; independent child readers may skip over it after flipping through the pictures. Many of the nuances of the book are lost without reading it.

Advanced #NetGalley copy was provided to me as a courtesy in exchange for an honest review.

The Paper Boat is an intriguing wordless picture book that brings to the forefront the story of refugee families. From safety and security to fear, hiding and insecurity. Then the light returns and there is hope. It is a stunning picture book that would be well suited for an older child audience. The book can lead to many deep conversations and wonderings. Absolutely beautiful in every way.

This was one of those beautiful picture books without words about an author's real experience as a child refugee from Vietnam. I absolutely loved this book, and I believe that it will become one of those essential pieces for children's libraries.

As readers we put our faith in authors to see what we don't and say what we can't. Thao Lam creates a wordless story that needs to be read at least twice. Once slowly and silently, followed by the author's note and then once more so you can be in awe of what she has created with cut paper. The comparisons between ants and refugees is one that has never crossed your mind but after this book you won't be able to shake it.

Wordless Book
I received an electronic ARC from Owlkids Books through NetGalley.
Powerful illustrations bring the reader along on this family's journey from Vietnam to Canada. The two sets of beings - human and ants - show the resilience and spirit needed to survive. Lam begins her family's story after the war is over. They were not safe from the Vietcong and had to flee. The gamut of emotions is clear in the faces and bodies on each page. The ants, too, show their resilience and adaptability as they float in the paper boat to safety. The colors used emphasize the danger and fear as they leave their home.
Strong story to help middle elementary and older readers connect with human strength.

A beautifully done book. The pictures tell the story very poignantly. I can see lots of potential uses in the classroom, from understanding visual literacy to symbolism and color use. What a beautifully done book!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the art and how it was a collage, as well as it's color scheme. I thought the story was quite touching and I could still understand what was happening despite there being no words (alongside that idea, I think the author's note furthered my understanding of the text beyond what the story told). This is an important book to be published because it will help all kinds of kids understand the struggles that people can face without being too graphic for their age level. By helping kids understand others, they'll be able to demonstrate more kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. An important story to share

The story of the author’s parents’ journey escaping war in Vietnam to a refugee camp in Malaysia. I absolutely loved the nuanced imagery in this book with the ants and refugees as well as the part where different elements that look like will helps the refugees strike them down (the white peaceful looking birds, thunder, etc.); it was fascinating to read the background story behind that stylistic choice in the author’s note. The illustrations were beautiful with a well-balanced color palette. Overall, short, quick read, definitely something to read with kids to educate them about an important historical event and the consequences it had on the people of the country.

A powerful picture book. A wordless narrative utilising Lam’s signature collage art. The Paper Boat is an Own Voice picture book depicting the story of a young Vietnamese refugee family as they escape Vietnam. Alongside the young Vietnamese child and their family, we witness a swarm of ants as they too take a perilous journey to safety.

There is an excellent use of the colour scheme, tone, and symbolism. The imagery is powerful, evoking strong emotions with great details. As readers, we witness the subtle details woven in the narrative. There is the bleak and rough art style (the newspaper articles reporting the war, a military tank appearing in the window, soldiers in uniform holding guns, the ants as they journey through the water) contrasted with the ending and the lighter, colourful panels.

I feel that the story was easy to follow through and highly recommend reading the author’s note as it adds great insight to the story and the symbolism of the ants. As a child of immigrants myself, I appreciate this book deeply and how it conveys life’s struggles yet paints hope and determination in the face of adversity.

Overall, Paper Boats is a powerful read, that presents themes such as reliance, strength, hope, and empathy. With background information, this book may serve as a great educational tool in classrooms for accounting refugee experiences and I highly recommend this read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers (OwlKids Books) for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

There was no text, but I truly didn't need it.

The imagery was so powerful that I knew exactly what I was looking at and I think it's a wonderful and safe way for a child to learn about the refugees of Vietnam. It translates the fear, anxiety, and sadness very well, but most of all it shows hope.

I believe this was a beautiful picturebook and I hope to be able to purchase it once I have the opportunity. I would love my nephew to learn about these things.

I thank the author for sharing this piece of their experience. It forms appreciation I think will be perfect in teaching children about other cultures and their experiences.

This picture book used a gorgeous and unique illustration style to tell a moving and powerful story. No words are even needed. This is a book for adults as well as children.

The Paper Boat - A Refugee Story by Thao Lam is so engrossing. I love the unique way a refugee's story is depicted with an addition of the struggle of ants. I love the illustrations, and the afterward which tells the background of the author's own family and their journey and relationship to the ants.

In this wordless picture book, a young girl and her mother are forced to flee their country (Vietnam) because of war. As the family is eating a meal, the young girl rescues ants which the adults are swatting at. Later, when she and her mother leave their home, they are accompanied by the rescued ants. Mother and daughter must first hide from the officers hunting down refugees. Eventually, the ants lead them to where they must wait for a boat to take them away. The story switches to the ants sailing away in a paper boat at this point. Their journey is filled with hardships - a too hot sun beating down on them, thirst, seagulls overhead attacking and looking for food, an ant that drowns, and a thunderstorm that destroys their boat, sending all the ants into the water. Eventually they find land and are met with many more refugee ants. The story switches back to the girl and her family now living in safety in what looks like an city full of refugees from other parts of the world. Lam uses the ants to represent the difficult journey made by the mother and child. Lam's cut paper collages and the wordlessness of the story really capture the danger faced by many refugees when they are forced to leave their family and their home. She used simple colors - orange, pink, blue, and black to create these emotional illustrations. This is a story of bravery and hope despite hardship. You can find a detailed discussion and activity guide for this book HERE Kids can make their own origami paper boat with these instructions from the publisher, Owlkids

I never thought I'd be moved to tears by a wordless picture book, but here we are. The Paper Boat, by Thao Lam, is a moving and gorgeously rendered tale of resilience, strength, and enduring hope. The cut paper collage-style art works perfectly for the title and topic as well as making a deep impression on the reader, and the ant colony's journey provides a strong allegory. A beautiful and complex book.

Thank you to Owlkids and NetGalley for the advance review copy!

I just ‘read’ the incredible wordless book The Paper Boats by Thao Lam. Wow! This time I am also wordless because I am left speechless. The paper cut is beautiful and heart wrenching. I cannot recommend strongly enough. Thank you #NetGalley for this opportunity to review.

This title begins with some newspaper renditions. After this, it is a wordless picture book with the exception of the author’s afterword. The art work is made up of Ms. Lam’s intricate collages.

The book tells the story of a refugee family fleeing Vietnam after the war. It is based on the experiences of the author’s family.

There are many illustrations with humans and others with ants. In her afterword, the author explains this choice. It resonates for her and may well resonate for those who pick up this title as well.

This book is geared toward children in grades one to four. I feel that it is one that may best be looked at with an adult.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed reading The Paper Boat and found myself wanting to turn to the next page to see what was going to happen next... a feeling I don't often get from wordless books! I have absolutely no complaints about this book, however, I wouldn't be comfortable with reading this with my students. They would be too young to understand why the family would need to flee from Vietnam during the war and how dangerous it'd be for them if they were caught. They would be old enough to understand the analogy of the ants... even though I'd have to explain it... and I think that would scare some of them. I'd definitely suggest The Paper Boat for upper elementary and middle school.

This book is told with no words only pictures though an ant. I was a little confused at times with the story until I read the authors notes in the back. Once you read those you realize what a beautiful book this really is. I would love to use it with upper elementary and middle school. The pictures are beautiful and the story is very compelling.

Thao Lam created another gorgeous picture book, full of her signature lush collages. In The Paper Boat we see a family's refugee journey juxtaposed next to a colony of ants. This wordless book leaves lots of room for discussion with children.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was released September 15, 2020, by Owlkids Books.

The Paper Boat is a wordless graphic novel that deals with a Vietnamese family fleeing Vietnam following the end of the war.

It requires work on the part of the reader.

It’s well worth the effort.

Thao Lam used paper cut collages created from textured paper and drawings to create the stunning art. The end papers highlight newspaper headlines. Those at the front of the book provide snapshots of the war from its inception to the fall of Saigon. Those at the end reference refugees.

The narrative begins with a table covered with ants. Some crawl into a bowl of something and a young girl rescues them.

Eventually the family sits down at the table to eat. Outside a window, tanks and soldiers adorned with yellow stars stream past. At this, the family members gather what they need and separate.

The girl and her mother set out on a journey together. At one point the mother covers the child’s face as soldiers with guns pass nearby. When it appears that they are lost, they follow a trail of ants marching to the ocean. While they wait the child folds a paper boat. Then when their boat arrives and they climb into it, she drops the folded ship.

For the next while it becomes the story of the ants. They climb aboard the paper boat. Afloat on the ocean we see them seasick, being attacked by birds, drowning, getting so hungry and thirsty they begin to devour the boat and drink rainwater. A storm capsizes the vessel but eventually some ants make it to shore. There they are greeted by a massive collection of other ants.

At this point the story returns to the young girl and her family. We see ants in a new land. As observers looking inside their window, we see one ant making its way across a table laden with delicious food. The girl and her family are sitting around it.

Next we zoom out of their window and see an apartment full of many windows filled with diverse families.

In the author’s note in the back matter we learn that 1.6 million refugees fled Vietnam at the end of the war. 400,000 of these died at sea for assorted reasons. Those who survived ended up in crowded refugee camps. We discover that this graphic novel is based on her family’s escape. The young girl is her mother.

I had no difficulty making connections between what was happening to the ants and what happened to the many 'Boat People' as they were often referred to in the late 1970’s and 80’s. Throughout my career I taught many of their children. For those who might be confused, Thao Lam consolidates and extends the story as she explains how integral the ants are to her mother’s tale.

I appreciate so much about this book. I love that I had to think and was compelled to go back again and again to unpack it more fully. I love the artwork. I am fascinated by the parallels between the ants and the people. The endpapers are just brilliant.

This book makes me wish I was still teaching. I imagine putting these pages on a large screen and have conversations with students about what they see and what they think it means. I’ve read it at least three times and each go round I discover more.

I loved that this book told a refugee's story to children in a way that tackles the hard stuff in a way that is age appropriate. What a wonderful way for children to learn from others.

Moving and thought-provoking. A beautiful addition to refugee stories. Wordless and completely powerful.

Beautifully told without words. The story will resonate with refugee families and children of refugees who have heard about the 'old country.' The emotions and experiences comes through Lam's artwork.

This is a great refugee story. The illustrations were wonderfully done and really brought the words to life.