{"id":42167,"date":"2023-03-13T23:19:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T03:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=42167"},"modified":"2023-03-13T23:19:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T03:19:59","slug":"review-of-from-the-tops-of-the-trees-by-kao-kalia-yang-illustrated-by-rachel-wada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=42167","title":{"rendered":"Review of From the Tops of the Trees, by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Rachel Wada"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>From the Tops of the Trees<\/em><\/p>\n

by Kao Kalia Yang
\nillustrated by Rachel Wada<\/p>\n

Carolrhoda Books, 2021. 32 pages.
\nReview written 2\/3\/2023, from a library book.
\nStarred Review
\n2023 Asian\/Pacific American Literature Award Winner, Picture Books<\/p>\n

I’m so glad I checked out award winners and found this book. Kao Kalia Yang has taken an incident from when she was a small child in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and has made a beautiful picture book from it, assisted by the wonderful paintings of Rachel Wada.<\/p>\n

Since Kalia was small and didn’t remember anything but living in a refugee camp, she asked her father if the whole world is a refugee camp. He told her No, but wasn’t able to explain what the wide world is like.<\/p>\n

So one day, he had her mother dress her up in her good clothes, and he climbed with her on his back to the top of a tree. From there, she could see far beyond the refugee camp. Her mother took a picture of them.<\/p>\n

“Father, the world is so big,” I say.<\/p>\n

My father answers, “Yes, it is.” He says softly, “One day my little girl will journey far into the world, to the places her father has never been.”<\/p>\n

My father tells me to smile at the camera, but I can’t because I now know that the world is bigger than anything I had imagined. My little legs will have to carry me far.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love that the Author’s Note at the back includes the photograph that inspired the story.<\/p>\n

kaokaliayang.com<\/a>
\nrachelwada.com<\/a>
\nlernerbooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/from_the_tops_of_the_trees.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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