I loved the story. Though I didn't fully understand the significance of all of the illustrations until reading the synopsis at the end.

This book is told with no words only pictures though an ant. I was a little confused at times with the story until I read the authors notes in the back. Once you read those you realize what a beautiful book this really is. I would love to use it with upper elementary and middle school. The pictures are beautiful and the story is very compelling.

Thao Lam created another gorgeous picture book, full of her signature lush collages. In The Paper Boat we see a family's refugee journey juxtaposed next to a colony of ants. This wordless book leaves lots of room for discussion with children.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was released September 15, 2020, by Owlkids Books.

The Paper Boat is a wordless graphic novel that deals with a Vietnamese family fleeing Vietnam following the end of the war.

It requires work on the part of the reader.

It’s well worth the effort.

Thao Lam used paper cut collages created from textured paper and drawings to create the stunning art. The end papers highlight newspaper headlines. Those at the front of the book provide snapshots of the war from its inception to the fall of Saigon. Those at the end reference refugees.

The narrative begins with a table covered with ants. Some crawl into a bowl of something and a young girl rescues them.

Eventually the family sits down at the table to eat. Outside a window, tanks and soldiers adorned with yellow stars stream past. At this, the family members gather what they need and separate.

The girl and her mother set out on a journey together. At one point the mother covers the child’s face as soldiers with guns pass nearby. When it appears that they are lost, they follow a trail of ants marching to the ocean. While they wait the child folds a paper boat. Then when their boat arrives and they climb into it, she drops the folded ship.

For the next while it becomes the story of the ants. They climb aboard the paper boat. Afloat on the ocean we see them seasick, being attacked by birds, drowning, getting so hungry and thirsty they begin to devour the boat and drink rainwater. A storm capsizes the vessel but eventually some ants make it to shore. There they are greeted by a massive collection of other ants.

At this point the story returns to the young girl and her family. We see ants in a new land. As observers looking inside their window, we see one ant making its way across a table laden with delicious food. The girl and her family are sitting around it.

Next we zoom out of their window and see an apartment full of many windows filled with diverse families.

In the author’s note in the back matter we learn that 1.6 million refugees fled Vietnam at the end of the war. 400,000 of these died at sea for assorted reasons. Those who survived ended up in crowded refugee camps. We discover that this graphic novel is based on her family’s escape. The young girl is her mother.

I had no difficulty making connections between what was happening to the ants and what happened to the many 'Boat People' as they were often referred to in the late 1970’s and 80’s. Throughout my career I taught many of their children. For those who might be confused, Thao Lam consolidates and extends the story as she explains how integral the ants are to her mother’s tale.

I appreciate so much about this book. I love that I had to think and was compelled to go back again and again to unpack it more fully. I love the artwork. I am fascinated by the parallels between the ants and the people. The endpapers are just brilliant.

This book makes me wish I was still teaching. I imagine putting these pages on a large screen and have conversations with students about what they see and what they think it means. I’ve read it at least three times and each go round I discover more.

I loved that this book told a refugee's story to children in a way that tackles the hard stuff in a way that is age appropriate. What a wonderful way for children to learn from others.

Moving and thought-provoking. A beautiful addition to refugee stories. Wordless and completely powerful.

While I'm not big on ants or Insects in general, I think the way the author used them was interesting. The ants were a thing that helped guide hi mom and also represented the refugees. I enjoyed the picture book well enough and I like the unique art style.

This book grew on me. The first time I read it (is that the appropriate verb for a wordless picture book?), I was confused, especially about the relationship of ants to the young girl. Then I read the author's note at the end. Rereading with that in mind, I began to appreciate this unique refugee story with subdued, detailed artwork, which I loved. A book that might not initially attract kids, but once they are introduced to it, I can see them pouring over the pictures and telling their own stories of refugee journeys.

** spoiler alert **

This book is a wonderful picture story-book that tells the story of the author's family and the comparative story of a family of ants that she rescues and then "builds" a paper boat for them. On closer inspection, you note that the newspaper used for the boat highlights different aspects of the Vietnam war, especially the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled the destruction for a better, safer way of life. In the narrative that shows up later in the book, and in the only area where words are found, the author describes how her family - including her mother who was 3 months pregnant with her sister - managed to escape and eventually end up in Malaysia, and then, ultimately, Canada. As I read her story, I could picture the images from the start of the book, including the ants and their travels on the water, and how both set of lives were intertwined.

I found the images, while fairly simple, were beautifully done, and matched up well with the story. They didn't take over the important message; instead, they acted as stunning displays of the resiliency of the spirit (human and otherwise).

I *will* say, that seeing this book in digital format (Kindle) was not really the best as the images and pages were "torn apart" and everything had to be sort of mentally "pieced together". I would highly recommend the actual print/physical book to be able to fully appreciate everything this grand story has to offer.

In closing I would like to thank both the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to view this amazing and inspirational children's picture book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story of the author’s parents’ journey escaping war in Vietnam to a refugee camp in Malaysia. I absolutely loved the nuanced imagery in this book with the ants and refugees as well as the part where different elements that look like will helps the refugees strike them down (the white peaceful looking birds, thunder, etc.); it was fascinating to read the background story behind that stylistic choice in the author’s note. The illustrations were beautiful with a well-balanced color palette. Overall, short, quick read, definitely something to read with kids to educate them about an important historical event and the consequences it had on the people of the country.

A powerful picture book. A wordless narrative utilising Lam’s signature collage art. The Paper Boat is an Own Voice picture book depicting the story of a young Vietnamese refugee family as they escape Vietnam. Alongside the young Vietnamese child and their family, we witness a swarm of ants as they too take a perilous journey to safety.

There is an excellent use of the colour scheme, tone, and symbolism. The imagery is powerful, evoking strong emotions with great details. As readers, we witness the subtle details woven in the narrative. There is the bleak and rough art style (the newspaper articles reporting the war, a military tank appearing in the window, soldiers in uniform holding guns, the ants as they journey through the water) contrasted with the ending and the lighter, colourful panels.

I feel that the story was easy to follow through and highly recommend reading the author’s note as it adds great insight to the story and the symbolism of the ants. As a child of immigrants myself, I appreciate this book deeply and how it conveys life’s struggles yet paints hope and determination in the face of adversity.

Overall, Paper Boats is a powerful read, that presents themes such as reliance, strength, hope, and empathy. With background information, this book may serve as a great educational tool in classrooms for accounting refugee experiences and I highly recommend this read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers (OwlKids Books) for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

There was no text, but I truly didn't need it.

The imagery was so powerful that I knew exactly what I was looking at and I think it's a wonderful and safe way for a child to learn about the refugees of Vietnam. It translates the fear, anxiety, and sadness very well, but most of all it shows hope.

I believe this was a beautiful picturebook and I hope to be able to purchase it once I have the opportunity. I would love my nephew to learn about these things.

I thank the author for sharing this piece of their experience. It forms appreciation I think will be perfect in teaching children about other cultures and their experiences.

Without the subtitle, “A Refugee Story,” on the cover of The Paper Boat it might be difficult for children to immediately recognize the message that this wordless book shares so beautifully. It isn’t until reaching the end of the book, where there is an author’s note from Lam, that young readers learn exactly what the images in the book are meant to convey. This makes the book even more powerful, because it requires such focus and concentration from young readers in their first read and then invites many more visits through the illustrations once more information has been gathered.

Lam’s experience as a two-year-old fleeing Vietnam with her pregnant mother during the war is depicted in collage-style mixed media illustrations with muted tones. The book begins with a little girl rescuing ants who are trapped in the sugar water meant to keep them from eating the family’s food. These ants continue to be characters throughout the story, leading the family towards the boat they will take to flee Vietnam and then making their own escape in a paper boat built by the little girl.

The ants’ journey on the paper boat is a reflection of the experience of so many refugee families. We have seen devastating images of individuals and families whose journeys by water have ended tragically, but these images would be too hard or upsetting for many of our youngest students to process. Lam uses the story of the ants’ escape on the paper boat as a method of conveying the struggles and risks that so many refugee families encounter. By so cleverly interweaving the story of the ants with that of the little girl and her family, Lam makes sure that readers will understand their connection.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and to Owlkids for the opportunity to read and review this book. It is one that I believe young children will be drawn to over and over and that will inspire awareness and empathy in those who spend time with it.

The Paper Boat is about Vietnamese refugees fleeing Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It is a picture book with no words and because of this it's quite hard to rate and review. Th art of The Paper Boat was charming, detailed, and effectively told the story. This would make a good picture book for very young readers and is a great opportunity to introduce to them concepts like war, refugees, immigration, and etc.

The Paper Boat is a wordless picture book with a paper collage design telling story of the author and his family escaping Vietnam on a boat. A company of ants follow along and escape in their own little paper boat. At the end of the story, the author includes a note explaining more about his family's escape and the significance of the ants.
This is not an easy book to follow, with the explanation given at the end instead of the beginning or throughout the story. I would suggest "reading" this book with your children and talking about the story elements on each page. Young children may not have heard of Vietnam, or understand this part of history, so a conversation will also be helpful. However, with gentle guidance and permission to question, you can share this book with your child knowing that the experience will demonstrate kindness, beauty, hope, and resilience in the Vietnamese boat people, and likewise nurture the same in your little one.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the art and how it was a collage, as well as it's color scheme. I thought the story was quite touching and I could still understand what was happening despite there being no words (alongside that idea, I think the author's note furthered my understanding of the text beyond what the story told). This is an important book to be published because it will help all kinds of kids understand the struggles that people can face without being too graphic for their age level. By helping kids understand others, they'll be able to demonstrate more kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. An important story to share

hink that having books like this is so important. Especially to teach the younger generation about these important topics and issues in world history. The visuals are absolutely stunning! That being said though, given that this is meant for a child, I don’t know how much they’d understand unless they have a previous knowledge on the topic... I think it really would have helped to have added text to this. It’s important for kids to learn and it helps to have the things they might not yet understand, explained. But I’m still glad a short little book like this is out there in the world! I still would recommend giving this a read and or buying a copy for your child. If they have you to explain what’s going on, they can really learn a lot from this.
Thank you so much for the ARC, Owlkids!!

My thoughts after reading the description: A true story about a family's escape from war-torn Vietnam but targeted to children. And told without words. Color me intrigued.

My thoughts after finishing the book: Words would've helped a lot. I liked the author's note more than I did the rest of the book because that's where I was actually told the story. I believe this is a very important and powerful story to tell but, unfortunately, I don't think a child would really grasp what's going on just by looking at the pictures.

I love wordless books! They are great for children who are ELLs and such a great way to engage with imagination. Although I was unsure of the connection between ants and migrants, I thought that this book would be a great point of inquiry for kids. I like the papery collage look in the book and thought it's very well executed.

An important telling of the story of a refugee family, this wordless picture book would be a great asset to any classroom or family wishing to learn more about others. It is illustrated so beautifully, and the style is timeless.

I will say that I don’t think the book will make much sense to a child or early teen experiencing the book on their own. I feel that the author could have included the information that is at the end, at the start in a child friendly way and that would be a help. As an educational tool in the classroom with the right prep work it would absolutely be impactful however.