Rosa's Song
by Helena Ku Rhee (Author) Pascal Campion (Illustrator)
In this diverse picture book, a young immigrant from South Korea finds community and friendship in an apartment house filled with other newly arrived kids.
When Jae looks out the window of his new home, he wishes he could still see his old village, his old house, and his old friends. But his new apartment feels empty and nothing outside is familiar. Jae just arrived from South Korea and doesn't even speak the new language.
Yet, making friends is the same wherever you go and he soon meets a girl with a colorful bird perched on her shoulder. Rosa knows just how Jae feels and the two become fast friends. Not only does Rosa show Jae his new neighborhood but she shows him how his imagination can bring back memories of his old home. Then Rosa leaves unexpectedly one night but leaves her parrot for Jae. He thinks about the song that Rosa would sing: "When I fly away, my heart stays here." And when Jae meets two other newly arrived kids, he teaches them Rosa's song and becomes their guide to this new world.
From the creators of the highly acclaimed The Paper Kingdom, comes a new book about the importance of community and demonstrates how a simple act of kindness can be passed along to others.
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Publishers Weekly
The creators behind The Paper Kingdom reunite in this clunkily paced story about finding a new friend in a new place. Jae, who has light brown skin, is "new to the country, the city, the building," far away from "his old village, his old home, his old friends," and worried about forgetting "my new words," writes Ku Rhee. But with encouragement from his mother, he soon meets downstairs neighbor Rosa, portrayed with brown skin, whose parrot, Pollito, accompanies her everywhere. The children become fast friends as Rosa imagines the aspects of life that Jae is missing (when he comments, "No mountains" about the window's view, she climbs the sofa: "I'm heading for clouds!"). Campion's sparsely finished digital illustrations combine reality and imaginative landscapes--as when the children explore their complex for "golden Incan treasures, and a rainforest with parrots--like where Rosa was born." When Rosa's family must abruptly move away ("They didn't have a choice," Jae is told), she leaves Pollito behind, precipitating a moment of anguish followed equally suddenly by the opportunity to welcome new neighbors. Ages 4-8. (June)
Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV039250 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emigration & Immigration
Immigrants
Picture books
Apartment houses
