A Map into the World
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- USD 9.99
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- USD 9.99
Publisher Description
"Filled with wonder and sorrow and happiness."
—Alison McGhee, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Someday
A heartfelt story of a young girl seeking beauty and connection in a busy world.
As the seasons change, so too does a young Hmong girl's world. She moves into a new home with her family and encounters both birth and death. As this curious girl explores life inside her house and beyond, she collects bits of the natural world. But who are her treasures for?
A moving picture book debut from acclaimed Hmong American author Kao Kalia Yang.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Yang (The Song Poet for adults), a Hmong writer making her picture book debut, offers a story about a girl who notices things. Young Paj Ntaub (both a girl's name and a term that nods to needlework tellings of Hmong experiences) moves with her family to a green house and helps to hang their story cloth "about how the Hmong got to America" on the wall. When her twin baby brothers cry too loudly, her father takes her outside, where they wave to their elderly neighbors, Bob and Ruth. In lovingly detailed spreads, Kim, making her U.S. debut, draws all the things that Paj Ntaub sees: gingko leaves ("yellow like apricots"), winter snow, a worm. When Ruth dies in the winter, and Paj Ntaub notices Bob grieving come spring, she chalks a wealth of previously regarded details on his driveway "a map into the world," she explains. Though age separates them, Paj Ntaub's accounting of everyday details reaches Bob and gives voice to the child's experience, too. A distinctive story that weaves together threads of family life, community and culture, the natural world, and the power of stories. Ages 7 8.
