A Different Pond Book Review

A Different Pond

Phi, Bao and Bui, Thi. A DIFFERENT POND. North Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Young Readers, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-62370-803-0

A Different Pond is a quiet story about a boy and his Vietnamese immigrant parents, his father in particular. It spans a day in this boy's life, and this slice of life illuminates the struggles his father and mother face as immigrants, without fuss and sometimes silently. The father wakes the boy up early to go fishing. The readers quickly learn that this is not a fun fishing trip. They are fishing to feed their family. They are up early so that the father can go to his second job later in the morning. When they return, both the father and mother leave for jobs, and our protagonist stays home, caring for his younger brother. At the end of the day, the family gathers together to eat the caught fish, with rice and fish sauce, and conversation. At night, the boy dreams of some of the conversations he's had earlier with his father.

A Different Pond Book Trailer

This is a sparse story. The prose and illustrations are sparse. I read this book after a different picture book that had lavish and saturated illustrations with lots of details. In comparison, I found these illustrations stark. However, stark is not bad. They reflect the stoic and withdrawn nature of the father. The father says very little. There is no explanation given for his rectitude, but the reader infers that there is trauma from fighting in Vietnam and losing his brother there before fleeing to the United States. As they fish at the Minnesota pond, the father sometimes describes "another pond" in Vietnam where he fished with his brother. It is this "other" pond that captures our protagonist's imagination (and he dreams of it at night). As the father holds his hand, helping his son through the forest to reach the pond, the son feels the callouses on his father's hand. The reader infers, again, that the father works very hard at his multiple jobs, and this may be another reason he says very little.

 

Interview with author Bao Phi

 

Thi Bui's colors move this story. In the morning, the illustrations are dark, reflecting the darkness of pre-dawn, when they set out to fish. The streets are dark. Pages 7-8 are a beautiful pastiche of different blues, showing the forest, hill-side, and pond in a remote setting. It is quite striking. When they return home, the streets are lighter, reflecting the passage of time. When the family returns from their jobs and school to gather together for dinner, the pictures are bathed in a warm, yellow light. It portrays the warmth and love of the family, drawn together.

This is a lovely, quiet book that manages to convey lots of information with sparse prose and illustrations.

Program Connection

Have students draw two ponds next to each other. In one pond, they should draw things that are meaningful to them and in the other pond; they should draw pictures of things that were important to the people in the book. Have them share what they drew, including things that are in common between the two ponds.

(from Social Emotional Lesson)