Cover Image: The Most Beautiful Thing

The Most Beautiful Thing

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Member Reviews

I had to add one more gorgeous children’s book to my reviews for today. This book will be published October 6th, and it deserves a look if you are looking for a way to capture all the wisdom that our elders can pass on to our children. This is an #ownvoices book, written by a Hmong author recalling the stories told to her by her grandmother. What I really loved was how she expressed her desire as a child to care for her grandmother, how it was a privilege to wash and care for her feet. She writes: “I can see the bottoms of her feet, thick and brown and broken, deep cracks filled with dirt from long ago and far away.” This was such a beautiful sentiment to read, and the rest of the story follows suit. The illustrations are fresh and unique, with glorious colors.
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Thank you @netgalley and @lernerbooks for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. It was such a privilege.

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The central theme of this book is inter-generational relationships woven into a poignant story and provide rich cultural context.. The book begins with the sentence: My #grandmother is so old, nobody knows how old she is. The tender tale of caring for the elder at home and celebrating her presence in every aspect of life forms the central theme of this book. Every grandchild got to serve her in some way to attend to her comfort. The only sentence grandma speaks in the book leads to a powerful transformation of the narrator. A book with depth and experience of living with the an elderly person from east Asia.

#ownvoice #netgalley #fiction #AsianAmerican #Hmong

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Lovely story, beautiful illustrations. I'm planning to read this to my 6 year old and discuss themes like aging and passing down family stories. Thank you!

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This was such a beautiful, touching story that resonated with me as a daughter of Southeast Asian immigrants. The stories and the art complimented each other really well. I highly recommend this to everyone.

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This is such a simple yet beautiful book. It packs so much in less than 50 pages. It took me back to my conversations with my grandma, sitting at her feet and listening to her tell stories from her youth - both normal and paranormal, spending time combing her hair, helping her bathe, how my cousins and siblings fought to be the one to be her aide.

The immediately arresting art of this book is beautiful beyond words and is as much a part of the story as the words. The artwork speaks so much with its mesmerising and intricate style. I am sure I will find myself going back to this book to study the art and consume it over and over again, finding new details each time.

This book is an OwnVoices semi-memoir from a Hmong refugee and it tells a tale of living with poverty as immigrants to the US. It is rife with Hmong heritage and culture but it exists in the small things - the oft told stories, how the festivals are celebrated, how a family exists together. It evoked the feeling of my own childhood, remembering how my grandma got smaller while I grew larger, how she never thought anything wrong with my body or personality while I fussed over them incessantly. This is a charming book which shows how Asian communities live in multigenerational families.

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This is a gorgeous picture book memoir featuring the love between the author and her grandmother. Their family came to the US from Laos and is wealthy in love, but not in cash. Kalia is struggling because there are things she'd like to have, but they simply do not have the money to buy them.

Like many of Yang's books, this one is sure to touch the hearts of readers and share the beauty of family love.

Highly recommended.

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This is such a beautiful and emotional picture book. I loved it.

While this is a children's book, recommended for ages 5-9, as an adult I enjoyed this picture book a lot. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story touched my heart. The story is that of a family of Hmong refugees living in the United States. It is told through the eyes of one of the daughters of the family, Kalia. The main focus of the story is the relationship between the girl and her grandmother, whose life stories always enchant the little girl.

There is so much packed into this little picture book, about appreciating life's beauty and the loved ones you have around you. The love and respect that Kalia, and the other children in the book, have for their grandmother was the most emotional aspect for me. Especially during these times that we are living in right now, when elderly people seemed to have lost their value and be considered "disposable" by some, it was beautiful reading about a little girl who considers herself lucky to be able to take care of her grandmother.

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A little girl named Kalia describes her family’s financial struggles after moving to the U.S. as Hmong refugees from Laos. She wishes for new shoes and braces for her teeth, but her loving grandmother helps Kalia learn to appreciate the beauty around her. Based on the author’s personal experience, the message is one found in other books but the cultural references make this unique. The full color mixed media paintings that illustrate the book are by Vietnamese artist Khoa Le, and add cultural references including traditional Hmong clothing. There is a pronunciation guide on the copyright page for the few Hmong terms used in the story. A emotionally resonant story about being positive that is universal, but with a clear cultural setting.

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Accompanied by gorgeous and fantastical drawings, this is a story about the care of privilege of taking care of a loved one and the blessing of making the best out of your circumstances. Kalia is a young girl in an immigrant family who is easier without many material possessions but with a wealth of love and care. She has to learn though to accept her poverty and embrace her prosperity.

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I really enjoyed this book, however I did feel like it ended rather abruptly. But, the illustrations are very nice and the story has a good moral with out feeling preachy. One could easily have conversations with their children about not having enough and still being contented.

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Thank you for providing me with the copy of the book.

At first, I thought this will be a story of a little kid and her mom, but it's actually the story of a girl and her grandma. In Asian culture, elders are regarded in high respect. So instead of duty to serve them, it is considered a blessing to be able to do things for them. And most of the time, our elders shared their stories while having daily family meals, or other moments spent together. I had my grandma told me stories back then. About her youth, the culture of old times, her struggles.

Most of our grandparents got through difficult moments. Mines lived during colonialism. And I do treasure my grandma's stories and time spent with her. Just like the author.

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Goodness, Kao Kalia Yang has written an endearing, nostalgic, intergenerational piece of work. She tells this story with precision, highlighting the richness of family and heritage and unconditional love. Khoa Le’s illustrations compliment the book seamlessly, pulling you into another world for a brief moment. I’m in awe of how well these words and pictures came together, each equally necessary to the other. I look forward to when “The Most Beautiful Thing” officially releases!

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Here we go,
another book that I would recommend to every library to have.
The story and the illustration weaving together beautifully! It brought tears to my eye. I need a copy of this book.
The author's managed to write something so simple yet so meaningful.
I need a copy when this is out!

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This is such a beautiful book and the illustrations were out of this world— Khoa Le literally brought the story to life with her work.
I read this book on my phone and the brilliance of the drawings weren’t lost to me.
The Most Beautiful Things is a story about a young girl, Kalia, coming to a realization that most adults don’t even acquire in their life time and she credited that realization to the moments she spent with her grandmother.

Asides lessons of contentment and “finding happiness in the mundane”, I think this book teaches that giving ourselves and our time in acts of services to our loved ones can end up bringing us more fulfillment and realizations than we would have gotten if we spent those efforts towards ourselves.
Brilliant book!

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The art in this book is absolutely stunning, and I would recommend everyone look at the pictures in this book. The ARC I'm reviewing is a digital copy of the book, but the artwork is so stunning that I can't wait to have a physical copy of the book just to appreciate the detailed, passion-filled images that are here in the book.

As for the text, it's lovely as well. It's clear that Yang put a lot of thought into the story and developing it. I've read many books about a child's relationship with an 'ancient' grandparent from another country, recounting their history from simple actions or rituals, but I will say that I think this is one of the better-written ones. Yang conveys respect for the grandmother, emphasizing the love she has for her family, sharing the woman's history without exoticizing or romanticizing her struggles.

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This book is appropriately titled "The Most Beautiful Thing" - the story, message, and illustrations are stunning. Kalia lives in an intergenerational Hmong household, helping take care of her grandmother and her younger siblings. Her grandmother tells her stories of a hard, difficult life across the ocean. Kalia's family does not have much money and eventually she grows tired of not being able to afford the things she would like. Her grandmother teachers her lessons about what truly matters, what beauty is, and where they come from. It is a beautiful story of a family that is rich with love and history, but not with material things.

As a child of Vietnamese immigrants, there are many aspects of this story that I connect with. Respect and reverence of our elders. Loss of images and history when fleeing to your home country. Making do while trying to succeed in a new home.

I recommend this book to anyone who would like to show their children that beauty comes from within. In addition, you will learn a bit about Hmong culture, an ethnicity that is generally lumped into the "Asian-American" grouping and hurt by the model minority myth.

*I received a copy for review from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*

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This was one of the saddest books I've every read with my children. At first, I was even worried it might be too hard for them to understand. But it became one of their favorites, and they asked to read it again and again. The illustrations accompany beautifully this story on life values. Exploring this book's subjects, I realized I was trying to protect my children from some of them to avoid my own discomfort. But I was not doing them any favor, as I cannot protect them from life's unfolding. This is a book that we will certainly come back to for months and maybe years to come!
Thank you to Net Galley and Lerner Publishing Group for providing me with an e-book copy in exchange for my honest review!

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Very beautiful art and very real hardship of never having enough. I appreciated the cultural non-censorship in the language and the heart of the message.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s start by talking about this cover - it’s absolutely gorgeous. I just kind of want to put it on my wall.

I also appreciate the pronunciation guide being at the beginning of the book instead of hidden in the back.

The artwork in this book is truly stunning. The story had so much more to it than other picture books I’ve read. This was thoroughly an impressive and enjoyable read. I may read it again or purchase the book to have it on my shelf.

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A heartwarming and beautiful story about a little girl and her grandmother. I felt like crying after reading this beautiful story because it reminded me of the relationship I had with my grandmother before she passed. This book is phenomenal and the artwork was gorgeous. I loved it and would highly recommend this for anyone.

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