Thao Lam's picture book of wordless cutouts does an excellent job of conveying the fear, desperation, and uncertainty felt by the fleeing refugees. The author's note at the end adds context to the pictures, and provides a coda to the story.

Received via NetGalley.

This is a beautiful book that tells a meaningful story, without words. It seemed a little abstract for younger kids though.

I feel like the impact of the story could have been adapted to help kids understand better with a use of some words.

This book could be used to help enrich a lesson for older kids about immigration and refuges.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just think this is just too complex for children. I don't think they will get it. The art is interesting.

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

The Paper Boat is a beautifully written & illustrated story. I especially appreciate the extended metaphor with the ants, which takes this from a single story to one that can be related to by anyone, regardless of their own experiences.

This book is outrageously beautiful and touching. I'm not sure what else to say- the art is absolutely breathtaking, and the comparisons drawn are just lovely. Ordering a hard copy this second.

The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story by Thao Lam

4 stars

This was a quick illustrated reading experience. There is no dialogue, but I loved the author's comparison of refugees to ants. I thought it was a beautiful and harrowing comparison and expertly crafted. I saw that a few people didn't catch on to that until the author's note, but I immediately put two and two when I saw the ants in the paper boat traveling. I thought this was a brilliant idea. However, I'm not sure it translates for a children, which is the targeted audience because the comparison is more adult. I think if you are willing to have in depth discussions about the connections then a kid could get something from this. Thinking back, if you handed this to me as a young reader I wouldn't have cared about or reread it. There has to something intentional with the book and conversations for this one to work and be effective.


Art Scale: 4

Plotastic Scale: 4

Cover Thoughts: I really like the cover, but it doesn't stand out.

Thank you, Netgalley and Owlkids Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful story. The illustrations were gorgeous and the story itself was really beautiful. I will admit this was 100% requested based on the cover, but the insides exceeded my expectations.

The Paper Boat is another moving picture book by Thao Lam. Entirely wordless, the book is deceptively simple in its paper-pieced illustration, packing much emotional depth. Young readers will delight in the depiction of the ants and ocean-faring boats, while adults will appreciate the characters' arduous journey.

Like Lam's other book, Wallpaper, The Paper Boat tells its beautiful story through its illustrations. A gentle way to talk with younger children about refugees where you can use the pictures to tailor your talk to the age of the child so that it can developmentally meet their level.

The collage art is gorgeous and powerful and tells two stories at once: ants seeking food and the author's family fleeing Vietnam. There are no words.

I highly recommend reading the author's note at the back, without which, it's very hard to make sense of the story. After reading the author's note, go back and reread the story.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a story based on the authors own refugee journey. The story is told parallel to the same journey of some ants the main character saves at the beginning of the book. There is a dangerous journey across the sea on the way to safety, battling the weather, animals, and hunger. At the end of the story, there is an author's note that explains in more detail what was happening at the time, and gives more background about the events of the book. The art in this story is stunning, and truly represents the feelings and events going on. I loved it so much.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

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 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.