My Words Flew Away Like Birds

by Debora Pearson, Shrija Jain

Overview

A powerful and poetic immigration story. A girl learns words in a new language to prepare for her move to a new country. But when her family arrives, everyone speaks so fast and “all her words fly away like birds.” The girl waits, and watches, and listens, trying to figure things out. Only, it’s hard. Then one day the girl meets someone who needs her help. And as she makes a new friend, the new words start to come easier — becoming her words, at last. A perfect read-aloud, this poignant story offers a powerful lesson in empathy for children everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781525309397
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	10/05/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	109 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Debora Pearson works as a children’s librarian in Toronto, Ontario, and is the author of numerous books for children.;

Editorial Reviews

11/15/2021

The paper white–skinned, black-pigtailed protagonist of this endearing picture book offers a close look at emigration and language acquisition. Pearson elucidates the child’s struggles in poetic prose, carefully leaving their countries of origin and emigration unspecified to highlight the universality of the child’s emotions: “Their words did not sound/ like the ones I had learned./ So I did not say anything.” The child details a handful of experiences: homesickness; someone attempting to introduce the family to a person “from the same place,” only to have their former homes be different; and finally, making a friend. Jain contributes doodle-like pen and ink artwork, with digitally airbrushed coloring in a light palette, in this approachable, empathic tale. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A frank and optimistic picture book about learning to live in a new language.—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Jain contributes doodle-like pen and ink artwork ... in this approachable, empathic tale.—Publishers Weekly

... demonstrates the complexities and meanings found within language and how difficult that can be to understand.—School Library Connection

This picture book will also be a great resource for young children who have immigration experience as it allows them to see themselves and know that they are not alone.—CM Magazine

From the Publisher

★ 2021-06-29
When an unnamed protagonist leaves her home country for an English-speaking one, the words she’s always relied on fly away, leaving her silent and a little bit lonely.

Practicing English in her original home left her unprepared for both how quickly people speak and how much slang they use. From the teacher’s lecture to the voice on the intercom, everything feels impossible to understand. Words, however, are not the only source of her confusion. When she gets lost at school, the teacher calls the protagonist the “new girl,” even though she is who she’s always been—it’s everything else that’s new. The girl misses her friends, wishing she could tell them about all the new things she’s seen, like snow, and dogs wearing boots. Eventually, she is able to make a new friend—and when she does, her words, slowly, come back. This warmly illustrated picture book adeptly captures the experience of moving to a new country and learning a new language. The narrator’s struggle and her slow but steady adjustment to her new home perfectly balance optimism and realism. The book’s watercolor-and-ink drawings evoke a world that feels simultaneously diffuse and sharply defined, thereby serving as a wonderful parallel for the narrator’s experience. All characters have paper-white skin and black hair; the narrator wears her hair in two puffy pigtails, and her new friend wears hers in a pageboy. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A frank and optimistic picture book about learning to live in a new language. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews