Wishes

by Muon Thi Van, Victo Ngai (Illustrator)

Overview

An arresting, poetic journey and a moving reflection on immigration, family, and home, from an acclaimed creative team.

Wishes tells the powerful, honest story about one Vietnamese family's search for a new home on the other side of the world, and the long-lasting and powerful impact that makes on one of the youngest members of the family. Inspired by actual events in the author's life, this is a narrative that is both timely and timeless. Told through the eyes of a young girl, the story chronicles a family's difficult and powerful journey to pack up what they can carry and to leave their world behind, traveling to a new and unknown place in a crowded boat. With sparse, poetic, and lyrical text from acclaimed author Muon Thi Van, thoughtful back matter about the author's connection to the story, and luminous, stunning illustrations from Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree Victo Ngai, Wishes tells a powerful and timely story in a gentle and approachable way for young children and their families.

Wishes is a must-have book for every child's bookshelf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338305890
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/04/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	156,894
Product dimensions:	11.30(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD130L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Muon Thi Van is the author of many acclaimed picture books. From her debut, In a Village by the Sea (2015), to her latest, If You Want to Be a Butterfly (2023), her books have earned many distinctions, including a California Book Award, an Irma Black Honor, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her recent book Wishes, with Victo Ngai, received the Margaret Wise Brown Prize and was named the #1 Best Picture Book of 2021 by BookPage. Her books have been translated into multiple languages, including Vietnamese, Nepali, Sepedi, and Tamil. Muon Thi Van lives and works in California.

Victo Ngai is a Forbes 30 Under 30 (Art and Style) honoree and Society of Illustrators New York Gold Medalist. She provides illustrations for newspaper and magazines such as the New York Times and the New Yorker; creates storyboards and art for animations with studios like NBC and Dreamworks; and makes books for publishers such as Scholastic, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit Victo at victo-ngai.com.

Editorial Reviews

A Junior Library Guild selection

Praise for Wishes:

★ "The collaboration between text and illustration is impressive; Văn’s lyrical and poetic writing gently propels the story forward, while Ngai’s honest and detailed pictures depict the heartbreaking reality of separation and extend the tale beyond its words." —The Horn Book, starred review

★ "A seamless interweaving of elegant prose and atmospheric art marks this affecting immigrant narrative." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

★"This story of escape makes refugees’ experiences more lucid and will summon deep feeling from readers." —Booklist, starred review

★"A superb, beautifully moving collaboration of text and illustration." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★"This rich and nuanced tale illuminates the closely held wishes of refugees the world over. It’s unforgettable." — BookPage, starred review

★ "The author's choice of narrators elicits a surprising wealth of emotion, evoking distinct and tactile sensations of hardship, perseverance and hope upon arriving at a new shore. The understated wording is enhanced by the art of Victo Ngai (illustrator of Dazzle Ships), which is stylized though realistic, in a lush subdued palette." — Shelf Awareness, starred review

"The personal story combined with the pitch perfect storytelling and jaw-dropping art means that this book is special. Its story may be set in the past, but its message cannot age or decay. Find a child, read it to them, and count yourselves lucky that both they and you have been allowed to experience this story together." — Elizabeth Bird, School Library Journal's A Fuse #8 Production

"A poignant, poetic ode...hopeful and moving picture book." —Parents Magazine

"Beautifully illustrated, a book like WISHES gives your deepest sorrows, biggest fears, and dearest hopes a magic container, one you can slide across the table or open together in bed, and let it speak volumes for you in just a few words." — Thi Bui, author of National Book Award winner The Best We Could Do and illustrator of Caldecott Honor winner A Different Pond

“A gorgeous story capturing the refugee immigrant experience.” — Kelly Yang, New York Times bestselling author of the Front Desk series

"A heart-wrenching journey captured via the wishes of the light, the night, a dream, the sea, and more. A universal story of leaving and arriving and remembering, illuminated by wistful and lush illustrations. Most ancestors have taken this journey during one century or another. WISHES encapsulates our commonality, our humanity, our wish for safety for ourselves and our families.” —Pam Muñoz Ryan, author of Mañanaland and the Newbery Honor Book, Echo.

“WISHES is an exquisite and emotive offering that deepens our understanding of migration. Van and Ngai together have given the world a luminescent story of human longing for safety and home.” — Aida Salazar, author of the NCTE Notable Poetry and Verse Novel Award winner, The Moon Within and Jane Addams Peace Award finalist, The Land of Cranes

“It is incredible how you can say so much with so little. Like a perfect marriage, the words and pictures of WISHES complete each other, bringing the reader along an epic journey full of experiences and emotions within just 17 spreads and 75 words. I was immediately moved to tears. —Yuko Shimizu, illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book, The Cat Man of Aleppo

“Powerful, hopeful, and timely.” —The Fan Brothers, creators of The Night Gardener and When Ocean Meets Sky

“This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. A masterpiece." — Jessica Love, creator of the Stonewall Book Award winner, Julián is a Mermaid

“My heart was with this refugee family through every stunningly illustrated page. By sharing one child's simple, vital wish for safety and compassion, WISHES reminds us of our common humanity.” — Christina Soontornvat, Newbery Honor winning-author of A Wish in the Dark

“With spare, ‘packs-a-punch’ text and lush illustrations, this journey of leaving home to begin anew nearly took my breath away.” — Tami Charles, New York Timesbestselling author of All Because You Matter

From the Publisher

★ 2021-03-17
The story of a young refugee’s flight from home is told through a series of wishes made by inanimate objects.

“The night wished it was quieter,” reads the first of 12 wishes that tell the story of a family’s journey across the sea to a better life. A somber palette and perfectly chosen scenes illustrate each object’s wish, giving shape to the story that unfolds. The bag that family members pack with rice packets “wished it was deeper.” The clock, at departure time, “wished it was slower,” as an older man embraces two children with tears in his eyes. The winding, ominous path on which the oldest child and mother walk (she carries both an infant in a sling and her middle child on her back) “wished it was shorter.” And the boat that they board, packed to the edges with passengers, “wished it was bigger.” Each simple statement, accompanied by its heart-rending visual element, takes readers along on this harrowing journey. When the final wish arrives, (the only to employ the first person), the one sentence spans four double-page spreads of visual storytelling that evoke the joy and release of so many heightened emotions. Details in every illustration convey an Asian setting, though readers in the know will recognize distinctly Vietnamese particulars. Backmatter explains how the author’s own family escaped from Vietnam in the 1980s.

A superb, beautifully moving collaboration of text and illustration. (author's note, artist's note) (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews