Book Review - Here I Am

Here I Am, written by Patti Kim and illustrated by Sonia Sanchez, is a vibrant literal picture book about a child adapting to another country. No words are spoken or dialogue really written on the page but the story leaps off the page like an animated film clipped into an almost scrapbook of various-sized watercolor slides.

The boy of the story lands with his family in New York City (or a city like it) and finds it much different from his hometown which he wistfully recalls while holding a seed he brought with him. Turns out it was dropping and chasing after the seed and the girl who picks it up that pushes the boy out into his new world and makes him fully recognize and accept it.

The pictures are drawn through the lens of the boy so we the reader see what he most likely would have seen. The normally English signage displays as a gibberish of letters or just “blablabla”. The seed bursts out memories of his old home in a dream cloud. Walking the crowded streets of the city has map travel paths snaking through the page.

The illustrations are beautiful and, though the presentation was vibrant, I was surprised at how the artist chose to apply color to only select parts of the art and keep the lines and curves structured into shapes but not necessarily interconnected. The most structured lines are the frames and panels she would draw around sections of the art to focus on story moments, further accentuating that scrapbook feel. The coloring itself also isn’t applied neatly but in broad paint strokes and dabs instead that would overflow past the lines. The overall effect is of a watercolor painting over rough sketch lines that further adds to the feel of a child’s view of the world.

The color choices are fitting to the story state. Drabber colors for the arrival, more vibrant in dream, and pleasant brightness at the end. The mom wears a red overcoat which I can take to be representative of her love for the boy. The seed is also a bright red, maybe meaning love for his homeland. The girl the boy follows wears a bright striped green in stark contrast to his drabber striped orangish-brown. In fact, the boy’s mood must be reflected in his clothing because it’s not until the days after he catches up to his seed that he started wearing blue and other brighter colors.

All these little - and I would say deliberate - touches add to the story.

In this time of uncertainty, it’s also nice to see the citizens of the city treat the boy so nicely. A pretzel vendor welcomes the boy with a free pretzel (though the boy thought to pay him back with a nickel he found on the street). A bird lady introduces the boy to her pigeon friends who also befriend the boy. The boy finally makes friends with the girl who took his seed and planted the seed in the park where he found her where it grew like their new friendship too that extended to both their families.

And why it’s extra nice is that this boy happens to look Asian and comes from a country with Asian architecture, meaning that maybe by reading this we can also appreciate how Asians are vulnerable people too and help curb the hate that’s been building towards them.

For the parents, there is a letter from the author at the end of the book that explains the story in words more as she shares her feelings about how it relates to her own life story.

But I do feel you can try reading the book as a shared discovery journey with your kid and the kid in the book. Point out what made the kid upset about moving to a new place then what things made him warm up to it.

Make it an adventure and maybe you will feel “Here I Am” too.