Review by Booklist Review
Illustrator Hoang offers up a story about friendship and change. Change can be scary, but, if open to new experiences, new friends can be easily made. Ren is from a land filled with nature: where plants and trees are abundant, where fireflies dance in the dark, and where tree frogs sing at night. But everything changes when Ren and his mother move to the city. His new neighbor Ava is thrilled to show him the city's beauty, but she must work to open his eyes as Ren can only remember what he left behind. Together, the two venture into a world of imagination depicted in full color. This is a lovely read for children experiencing displacement or changes in habitat who are struggling to adapt or are dealing with loneliness. Endearing illustrations in every spread express the promise of friendship. Pair with Natalie Becher and Emily France's Krit Dreams of Dragon Fruit (2020) and Kate McMullan's As Warm as the Sun (2019).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--Inspired by her father's childhood stories of moving from Puerto Rico to New York City, Hoang tells the tale of a boy who departs his house near the jungle for big city life. Instead of glorious nature to feed his imagination, he's faced with cement, noise, and cacophony. His new friend--spirited, city-loving Ava--shares new sources for fantasies with him, like basement shadow puppetry and splashing in hydrants. She ultimately wins him over with a rooftop view of buildings covered in fanciful murals and filled with imaginary aliens and dinosaurs. Watercolors, colored pencils, and Photoshop bring both worlds alive in brilliantly hued illustrations. VERDICT This will be helpful for compare-and-contrast discussions as well as conversations about moving from one country to another.--Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
When a child moves to the city, he misses the friendly sounds of the rainforest in Puerto Rico.Ren lives with his mother and grandmother on the fringes of el Yunque, the rainforest in Puerto Rico. There, his days are "filled with green and dirt and rocks and mud." It's an idyllic "place of endless possibility, where anything he imagined became real," and so Ren plays with dragons, unicorns, fairies, and kings, and he goes to sleep to the croaks of the coqus. All this changes when he moves with his mother to the city. Its loud mechanical sounds crowd his head and leave no room for wild, making him feel lonely. Meanwhile, Ava, a girl who lives upstairs, is "never lonely. She loved her building and she loved her city." So when Ren tells her why he's not happy, Ava is determined to make him see the city with different eyes. With her encouragement, Ren eventually finds in the city "a new kind of wild," proving that friendship often goes a long way toward curing homesickness. Hoang's color-filled illustrations incorporate fanciful views of mythical creatures into the rainforest and equally whimsical robots and ETs into the very diverse city as Ren learns to see with Ava's eyes. Ren and his family are white; Ava and her family are black; all characters seem to be Latinx.A wise and gentle lesson on making and helping friends. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
