Pajama Press

International Examiner

“Adrift At Sea is a powerful historical nonfiction story…

Adrift at Sea is the true story of Tuan Ho, a young Vietnamese boy who escapes his country’s military regime in 1981 and becomes part of the wave of ‘boat people’ refugees hoping to reach America. Given no other options but to leave their homeland in hopes of a better life…

Seeing nothing but hopelessness, tragedy, and panic on the ocean floor, Tuan’s mother quickly realizes something lying beneath the ocean floor that would turn around their fortunes and deliver them a glimmer of hope. As Tuan and his family are delivered to safety, they can take comfort in knowing that it can only get better from here. Filled with colorful and vibrant drawings that engages readers from start to finish, Adrift at Sea is a powerful historical nonfiction story.”

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“Each page is drawn by a different Pajama Press illustrator. I enjoyed flipping through the pages and recognizing the style of each illustrator….The messages, which include being kind to animals, helping those younger than you and saying sorry when you are wrong, makes it a cute and beautiful book.”

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“This book raises funds for Think Kindness and illustrates what kindness looks like….The pictures are well chosen to convey the actions, and show diversity. A great addition to any collection.”

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“Personal Reaction: This is an extremely powerful, wordless graphic novel about the anxiety and worry that affects one little boy and yet is so universal in its imagery. I think this would make a powerful addition to an older elementary and even middle school classroom and would be a great conversation starter for a class, book discussion or even one-on-one about anxiety, expectations, and self care….A truly powerful story that will resonate with many.”

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“Impressionistic illustrations use light, splashy washes of color with scratchy ink outlines and white backgrounds, conveying both the excitement of the rainy outdoor scenes and the familiar, cozy atmosphere inside. The simple plot, short length, and rich vocabulary make this a fine choice for toddlers just beginning to listen to real stories, but there’s enough interest and action for older preschoolers as well. Just right to enjoy after a rainy-day outing while sipping a cup of hot chocolate and perhaps wearing a pair of bunny slippers.”

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“Humor, helpfulness, and heart combine as Baby’s big sister helps to see him – and, of course, his stuffed bunny – through the nighttime routine from bath to bed. Little listeners ages 1 to 3 will connect with familiar sensory language of warm, tickly water and blanket snuggles, and they will be able to enjoy it time and again in this study-format…Where’s Bunny? will make bedtime a happy time for the whole family and is unreservedly recommended for daycare center and preschool collections.”

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“At various points in the book, the question “Where’s bunny?” is asked, and each time this is asked, there is an opportunity to look for the bunny in the drawing on that page. Most children have a stuffy of some kind that is a favourite bedtime pal, and this let’s that be part of the ritual as well….Bedtime books are a great way to introduce routine to children, and make getting ready for bed a pleasant time….I also liked that the book showed diversity without being about diversity.

This book is a great choice for little ones.”

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“When giving children books, well-meaning adults may feel impelled to offer challenge, too – opting for text-dense vocabulary boosters at the reader’s diagnosed level, with the difficulty ramped up a little for luck. However gentle, though, this sort of nudge is not an unalloyed blessing. It may pluck children out of storylines in which they were ecstatically resident; deny them the elegant plotting of a well-turned mystery, the satisfying structure of a pony story or the terseness of a comic adventure….

A frequent casualty of the utilitarian focus on advancement and sheer length is illustration, and the reader’s respect for it. The children told “You’re too old for picture books” are not only banished abruptly from an enchanted kingdom. They are also held back from winkling out images’ stored secrets of detail, and from learning the artist’s language of window-frame, colour, light, shade, emphasis, the single line that communicates mood, or loss, or season – everything we mean by “visual literacy”. Sophisticated, demanding concepts may also be com­municated, via illustration, to readers unable or unwilling as yet to parse the complex language required.

Small Things, a wordless graphic novel by Mel Tregonning, and finished, after her death, by Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin), is an extra­ordinary example: an illustrated book that communicates difficult, painful ideas solely via intricate monochrome graphite drawings….[T]o the ten- or twelve-year-old besieged by incipient anxiety or depression it offers a ­significant potential gift: understanding, and the possibility of recovery….The image of a small, vulnerable body breaking down by degrees, while deeply discomfiting, honours the weight of what it conveys; and the book as a whole celebrates the helpfulness of uncon­ditional love, while successfully avoiding a superficial, unduly swift resolution….”

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“We rated this book: [5/5] Wild One is a rhyming picture book for bedtime….The book is fun to read to yourself, and the words are easy, and it’s probably a good book for a parent to read to a little child because of the rhymes and rhythmic repetition of ‘wild one’ at the beginning of every sentence. The illustrations are cute and colorfully painted with watercolors….Any beginning reader who likes animals and likes to play outside will enjoy this book.”
—Lena, Age 9

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“The delightful watercolour illustrations draw the reader (or young child) into the story, and the action is enhanced by the simple rhyming couplets. The story is a celebration of childhood and all the uninhibited movement and excitement that being a young child brings….The simple, yet carefully crafted lines are rhythmic and just beg to be read aloud and acted out….

My three youngsters (aged 3, 3, & 4) really loved acting out the animals mentioned in this book. It is a great bedtime round-up book to start our process into settling down for sleep. They were eager to gather to act out and make the sounds of the animals and worked the last of their wiggles (and giggles!) out in preparation for our next (quieter) book before songs, prayers and lights out. The last animal depicted is a bear, snuggling in for the night, and at this point in the story I have the kids jump into bed and mimic the snuggling. In the weeks that we’ve had this new title, they have each asked for it to be read umpteen times – a sure sign of a fave book.”
—Erin

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