My First Day by Phùng Nguyên Quang (review)

Quang, PhÙng NguyÊn My First Day; written and illus. by Phùng Nguyên Quang and Huỳnh Kim Liên. Make Me a World/Random House, 2021 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593306260 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593306284 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* 5-8 yrs

A young Vietnamese boy who lives on the great Mekong River sets out in his boat one morning ("Mama said I'm big enough now to go by myself"). He leaves the houses on stilts at river's edge, negotiates a mangrove forest filled with wildlife, passes golden fish, encounters swimming water buffalo—and finally greets his friends as they all arrive in their boats for the first day of school. The story is a lively journey that's interesting in its own right, but closer attention reveals clues to the destination (the "chatter of a classroom full of animals," the sky that's a "crayon box full of colors"), and indeed the it's clear the lyrical text is describing both the trip and the experience of starting school ("There is still a world to learn"; "When you don't know a place, it can be scary"). Digital art keeps the figures graphic-novel streamlined while making mesmerizing compositions in the landscape (the cover's even a play on Hokusai's The Wave); shifting perspectives, crowds of animals in dramatic patterns, and the visual throughline of the blue and green of the river enrich the illustrations. This would make a compelling partner with Murphy's gorgeous Birrarung Wilam (BCCB 7/20) about Australia's Yarra River, or just as a first-day-of-school story that could prompt a lot of discussion. A concluding note includes a map and gives more information about the Mekong.