Islandborn

Published |
Updated
 
0.0 (0)
545 0
Islandborn

From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.

Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else.  Hers was a school of faraway places.   So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island.  As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.”

Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past and to ourselves.--from the publisher

48 pages  978-0735229860   Ages  5-8

********

Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else.  Hers was a school of children from faraway places.  But when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of the place they emigrated from, Lola can't remember her Island.  Seems everyone else can.

India and Camila remember their stony village at the "tippy top" of the world.  Matteo thinks of the desert that was so hot "even the cactus fainted."

Not Lola.  She remembers nothing.  Then she has an idea.  She will talk to the people in her neighborhood who know her Island.  Bats, music, agua de coco, mangoes--everyone has a memory to give to her.  Dolphins, beach poems, a hurricane like a wolf and even a Monster light up pictures in her mind and give her all the pieces of where she comes from.  (Strains of Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson are playing in the background here.)

Recommended by:  Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com

 

User reviews

Have you read this book? We'd love to hear what you think. Click the button below to write your own review!
Already have an account? or Create an account