One Giant Leap

by Thao Lam

Overview

A playful wordless story about the power of imagination and creativity in play

A child zips up their orange suit, pulls on a pair of boots, and adjusts their hat. They’re ready for an adventure. But where are they going? With the push of an elevator button, their adventure begins, and they’re transformed … into an astronaut!

The child takes one small step into a barren landscape. Then one giant leap. Soon, they’re hopping around a strange new planet and scaling space mountains. As they explore the peculiar planet, the astronaut discovers colorful space creatures of all shapes and sizes. Suddenly, a blizzard hits, and the astronaut races through the storm right into … the school hallway! The little astronaut was a child on their way to school, and the space odyssey was all part of their imagination.

This inventive and satisfying new wordless picture book from acclaimed author and illustrator Thao Lam celebrates a child’s talent for making the mundane magical. Thao’s signature storytelling style is dynamic, engaging, and rewards close observation. Keen-eyed readers will spot clues in the illustrations that reveal what’s really going on and feel inspired to creatively reframe tiresome tasks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771475990
Publisher:	OWLKIDS BOOKS
Publication date:	02/27/2024
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

THAO LAM is the critically acclaimed author/illustrator of The Line in the Sand, THAO, Wallpaper, My Cat Looks Like My Dad, Skunk on a String, and The Paper Boat, named a best book of 2020 by Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal, the Globe and Mail, CBC, and others. She studied illustration at Sheridan College and has an insatiable love of colored and textured papers, which she uses to create her exuberant collages. She draws inspiration from the stories she hears, from the beauty in everyday things, and from the work of the many illustrators she admires. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

"Plenty of picture books encourage young readers to go outside and have an adventure, but Thao Lam's wordless and wondrous One Giant Leap raises the bar by presenting an out-of-doors setting that's also out of this world—at least in the mind of one imaginative child."

Shelf Awareness (STARRED REVIEW)

"Marvelous paper collage illustrations take young readers on this remarkable adventure through time and space. Without a word, the escapade is fully realized in imagined landscapes and constant movement from one dramatic event to the next. The more often you return to its story, the more you will see."

Sal's Fiction Addiction

"The collage illustrations, in a palette dominated by deep blacks and oranges, capture the spirited imagination of a young person at play. An out-of-this-world good time."

Kirkus Reviews

"Inspiration to look at the world anew."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Lam has taken a child’s everyday journey from home to school and reimagined that journey as a marvellous adventure when seen through the eyes and imagination of her daughter’s first encounters with snow. Brilliant... One Giant Leap is a must-have book. It is suitable for pre-schoolers and early elementary students but, in reality, it will appeal to people with imaginations, regardless of their age."

Canadian Review of Materials

"Lam leads readers on a wordless adventure through extraordinary paper collage illustrations ... Whether shared with preliterate children or in units on imaginative play, this ingenious title will have readers flipping back to the beginning of the story to repeat the adventure."

School Library Journal

"The out-of-this-world exploits of an intrepid explorer propel Lam’s well-paced wordless story ... Careful paper cut-outs succeed in creating drama out of gesture, physical form, and the strangeness of the landscape being traversed."

Publishers Weekly

"Thao Lam, known for her complex and meaningful books including The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story and The Line in the Sand, still knows how to do playful. Dressing in a snowsuit and venturing out into the greater universe, this child embarks on an other-worldly adventure, fueled only by imagination."

CanLit for Little Canadians

"Marvelous paper collage illustrations take young readers on this remarkable adventure through time and space. Without a word, the escapade is fully realized in imagined landscapes and constant movement from one dramatic event to the next. The more often you return to its story, the more you will see."

From the Publisher

2024-02-03
A walk on the moon has never been this fun.

An unnamed, tan-skinned child bundles up in a jacket, checkered gloves, and a hat and takes an elevator to the surface of the moon. A wordless journey begins as the protagonist sets foot on the dusty exterior, jumps over moon rocks with gravity-less abandon, and plants a purple-checked flag on the very top. After taking a tumble from the summit, the child sees clawed footprints in the dust and eventually comes across large paisley-printed birdlike creatures and brightly colored space monsters. Our hero attempts to communicate with these creatures but flees after one waves its arms menacingly. The child bounds for safety from both the monsters and the extreme elements. The expedition ends when the child flings a door open to see other young people putting their coats away as a snowy school day is about to start. The final spread shows the inclemently weathered path taken by our intrepid explorer from an apartment building across the way to the schoolhouse. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the patterns of the classmates’ coats matching those of the creatures encountered on the moonwalk as well as the rough terrain mimicking the school playground. The collage illustrations, in a palette dominated by deep blacks and oranges, capture the spirited imagination of a young person at play.

An out-of-this-world good time. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews