STARRED REVIEWS
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“This wistful, beautifully illustrated story will resonate not only with immigrant families but any family that has faced struggle.”
— Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
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“Hours before sunrise, a father and son go fishing for that night’s meal. So begins this powerfully understated picture book, which shifts the focus of the refugee narrative from the harrowing journey to the reality awaiting the family members once they reach their destination (in this case, the United States). With evocative detail and a keen ear for metaphor...Phi hints at the family’s joys and struggles. . . .The father and son return home that morning with a fish but, more importantly, a fond memory that will help make this new country feel like home. The ponds may be different here, but the water reflects life just the same.”
— Horn Book, STARRED REVIEW
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“Spare and simple, a must-read for our times.”
— Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
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“Graphic novel panels and strong figures give the pages the air of a documentary as Phi celebrates an unexpected superhero: a father who endures a strange new culture, works to support his family, cherishes time with his son, and draws no attention to the sacrifices he’s made.”
— Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
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“This gentle coming-of-age story is filled with loving, important aspects of the immigrant experience and is a first purchase for all libraries.”
— School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
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“A Different Pond isn't a story in the traditional sense — there's no wedge-like event to disrupt the narrative's flow. But conflicts that happened offscreen shape the narrative into one family's story. . . .Bao Phi, a poet, gives the narrator's words an occasional lyricism. . . .Playing off the writing's grace is Thi Bui's art, in which characters tend to be rendered more simply than their painterly backgrounds.”
— Shelf Awareness, STARRED REVIEW
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2018 Caldecott Honor Book
Acclaimed poet Bao Phi delivers a powerful, honest glimpse into a relationship between father and son — and between cultures, old and new. A Different Pond is an unforgettable story about a simple event — a long-ago fishing trip. As a young boy, Bao Phi awoke early, hours before his father’s long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. A successful catch meant a fed family. Between hope-filled casts, Bao’s father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. The New York Times has said that Bao Phi’s poetry “rhymes with the truth.” Together with graphic novelist Thi Bui’s striking, evocative art, Phi’s expertly crafted prose reflects an immigrant family making its way in a new home while honoring its bonds to the past.
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Bao Phi was born in Vietnam and raised in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis. He is an author, a poet, a community organizer, and a father.
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Thi Bui was born in Vietnam and grew up in California and New York. Now, all these places are a part of her. She draws and writes, and teaches. She recently published her first graphic novel, The Best We Could Do (Abrams, 2017), which is about her mother and father.
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