David Almond (text) and Kirsti Beautyman (illustrator), Paper Boat, Paper Bird, Hachette, August 2022, 112 pp., RRP $22.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781444963274
This short novel by bestselling author, David Almond, transports readers to Japan and engages them in traditions and contemporary life.
Mina has recently arrived in Japan from England with her mother. While on a bus to a temple she is observes a woman folding paper. She is making an origami boat which she gifts to Mina. Next, the woman folds a paper crane. Mina’s imagination is strong and she feels the water beneath the boat and the wind from the bird. When the woman leaves, she also passes Mina some unfolded paper.
Mina and her mother visit a temple and stay at a traditional Japanese home. Missing her father, Mina writes a note on the paper, folds it, and sends it off into the world.
The next day readers meet a young boy, Miyako, swimming in a lake with fish all around him. His father calls to him, and as he is about to leave, Miyako finds Mina’s paper boat with the bird inside. Though he can’t decipher all the English, Miyako is intrigued by who the writer of the note and begins to use his imagination too.
This short novel – no chapter and lots of illustrations – will help children think about the nature of destiny, fate and chance encounters. While rooted in the modern world, it is at times abstract and figurative.
Introducing aspects of Japanese culture and traditions, Paper Boat, Paper Bird would be terrific for families who want to travel, kids who are in an ‘origami phase’, or for schools that have Japanese as their curriculum language.
Activity sheets can be found here.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
