But in part for these reasons: When I first began teaching English in Holland, Michigan in 1975 (!) I had no particular ESL skills. And when the Dad and his son go out to fish, everything is so beautiful. Lyra (10): 5.5 stars! Fantastic! Great colors and textures! So sweet how the family sits down and talks about their day and laughs. I like how the son is happy is happy even though his life seems dull (bleak, Hank's Dad interprets] I like all the metaphors and similes about his Dad. Love it! Reminds me of the story of a friend from college, who is Chinese but whose family lived in Viet Nam and emigrated in 1975. And I will smile and nod, and later, when we sleep, we will dream of fish in faraway ponds.' 'By the time we get home, the sunlight coming through the windows is just a faint taint, blue and gray instead of gold.' 'There's half a peppercorn, like a moon split in two, studded into the meat.'

'I feel calluses on his hand when he squeezes mine.' But to me his English sounds like gentle rain.' 'A kid at my school said my Dad's English sounds like a thick, dirty river.

The others in the best of the best: The Book of Mistakes, Malala's Pencil, The Youngest Marcher, Over and Under the Pond, and Little Fox in the Forest (which gained my personal vote for the best picture book in the 2017 contest, because A Different Pond was no longer available to vote for). This is book #16 of 2017.Īnd now we are within 3-4 books to finish, and can as a family say our favorites of the year (so far, and will update here), but this one has probably emerged as the overall family favorite, and my personal one. Everyone rates each book and adds a comment and it may (or may not) affect my overall rating. Original 11/22/17 review: Each year my family reads all the Goodreads-award-nominated picture books, and we have been doing this for years. And yes, I think whether you are have kids at home or not that you should get picture books from the library many are just amazing.

Edited to reflect that A Different Pond, a book I love, was given a Caldecott Honor Book Award for 2018, yay! Much deserved! My favorite of the Goodreads picture book nominees of the year.

A Different Pond by Thi Bui