"Here I Am" a Wordless Picture Book by Patti Kim

 Here I Am
Author: Patti Kim
Illustrator: Sonia Sánchez see her beautiful illustrations here
Publisher: Capstone Kids
ARC Source: Net Galley
Ages 5-9
Themes: Immigration: Friendship; Acceptance; Self-reflection









My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this wordless wonder, a young immigrant boy is fearful of this strange, loud place he now must now call home. Signs confuse him. The food is odd. People are not the same. His new school is a blur of babble he doesn’t understand. He feels lonely and isolated. The boy finds great comfort in a single red seed that he has brought along to this formidable new place. It allows him to reflect on his home and all he has had to leave behind. Suddenly and accidently, he drops the seed from an upper story window and it falls on the head of a young girl who stops to pick it up and take it along with her. Horrified, the boy calls after her and runs to track her down discovering along the way that this strange new place is not so awful after all. There are many nice people and beautiful places to experience. Once the boy has gained acceptance of his new world, he is rewarded with the forging of a new friendship with the same little girl who took the seed. Together, they plant the red seed and wait for it to grow along with their friendship. 

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