First sentence: Angie!

Premise/plot: Angie helps out her immigrant parents by translating. The family has [relatively recently] moved to Canada and Angie speaks the best English. She turns entrepreneur--in a way--and makes a 'business' of writing signs in English for others to use in their businesses. But sometimes things get lost in translation....

My thoughts: This is semi-bi-lingual. It is a family-focused picture book that celebrates community. I enjoyed this one. ( )

Immigrant kids learn English more quickly than their parents and so often have to translate for them. This role-reversal can be demeaning for the parent and burdensome for the child, but Jack Wong shows that there's more to communication than knowing the right words. His illustrations have a graphic novel feel to them and they make the story very approachable. The text is everything that's needed but no more, making it crisp and clear to read. I love that the father's words are written both in English and Chinese.

Simple, beautiful, brilliant and universal.

#Netgalley #Annick #JackWong ( )

I love this book! The Words We Share by Jack Wong is a subtly informative story about Chinese immigrants to Canada. Angie Tang and her father moved to Canada, and while Angie has learned English in school, her father still speaks only Cantonese. Angie helps him in many ways - when someone comes to the door, when buying groceries, etc. When her father has a job for his work that he needs help with, Angie gets a money-making idea that leads to her developing a thoroughly new perspective of her father.
The book is sweet, and the relationship between Angie and her father is devoted. There are Chinese characters whenever Angie's father speaks, emphasizing his lack of English and adding a delightful and educational element to the book. The Chinese title of the book is "The Same Heart in Different Languages," a label devised by the author's mother. What a glorious interpretation of the story! In a note from the author, he explains a bit about the Chinese family of languages. There are many dialects, different enough that the speaker of one only sometimes understands another. All use the same written characters, however.
The book is an exceptional illustration of the difficulties faced by immigrants and the beauty of a loving family. I have found that publisher Annick Press has many beautiful and informative books about various ethnicities.
Thank you to NetGalley and Annick Press for the ARC of this book. ( )