Gibberish

By Young Vo

BEST OF THE YEAR
Kirkus · Parents · Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association · Chicago Public Library · Washington Post · Evanston Public Library · Los Angeles Public Library

Charlotte Huck Recommended Book

Common Sense Media Selection

It’s Dat’s first day of school in a new country! Dat and his Mah made a long journey to get here, and Dat doesn’t know the language. To Dat, everything everybody says — from the school bus driver to his new classmates — sounds like gibberish. How is Dat going to make new friends if they can’t understand each other?

Luckily there’s a friendly girl in Dat’s class who knows that there are other ways to communicate, besides just talking. Could she help make sense of the gibberish?


P R A I S E

“A superb picture book.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Masterly. A tender reflection.”
—The New York Times

★ “The execution is stellar. A visually and emotionally immersive immigration story.”
—Kirkus (starred)

★ “Delightful. Beginning readers will love this book as the illustrations say it all.”
—School Library Connection (starred)

★ “Will give hope to kids dealing with a new country and could inspire others to reach out to struggling immigrant children.”
—Booklist (starred)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Digital
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781646141869

Young Vo

Young Vo learned to draw before he could write. He drew a lot of characters, then began to write stories for them. There were not many job choices that he could make, so he decided to be an animator, illustrator, and author. Now he writes and draws his stories before the sun rises, then during the day, he animates.

Book preview

Reviews for Gibberish

[deslivres5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dat begins his first day of school in an English-speaking country, but he doesn't speak English. His mother counsels him that everything will sound like gibberish, but to do his best.The visual are an impressive mix of full color illustrations of things Dat understands, emojis of the gibberish, and what I can only describe as "old timey Mickey Mouse" for the people and things which aren't yet clear to Dat.Recommend as a "first day of school/kindergarten" read with a sweet message. Would have to be a bit inventive as to how to handle the emoji-speak during a read-aloud.

[melodyreads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

learning a new language is clearly learning gibberish.strikingly visual spin on hearing gibberish; as Dat begins to understand and be understood, those around him change from cartoon characters to real people