Here I Am

I’m interested in the creative process that took place in producing Here I Am. There is no text, so author Patti Kim must have somehow communicated her intended narrative to illustrator Sonia Sanchez. The collaboration is a success because (like with reading film subtitles) I quickly adapted, in this case  to the wordlessness. Following the story visually was therefore a fun kind of challenge.

The young boy protagonist (who is of unknown origin, though the watercolor illustrations hint at Japanese) moves with his family to a new country, presumably the United States. Through pictures we see what he sees with often bewildered eyes–the overwhelming sights and sounds of a big city that now he has to make his home. As I read and reread I was reminded of modern short films that rely on images alone to put forth human emotion and conflict. The watercolors are airy and abstract, very detailed, and they lead the “reader” through the confusion and discomfort to a place of acceptance, friendship-making, and belonging.

Here I Am is being released this month by Capstone Press in hardcover. It has forty pages, and, for visual learners, a very flexible reading level!