“Just because you can’t remember a place doesn’t mean it isn’t in you.”Each year my family reads all the Goodreads-award-nominated picture books. This is book #18 (of 20) of 2018, and this is one of our clear favorites of the year, maybe the collective favorite. Lola was born on an island (which we suspect may be the Dominican Republic, see below) but not raised there. For a school assignment asking her to draw pictures of where she was born, she needs help from relatives and neighbors to make t...

So, here's a children's librarian secret: sometimes, when we're supposed to be shelf-reading during our down time, we see a book on the shelf and go, "Oh, this looked so cute when I ordered it, but I forgot to actually read it!" and since picture books are so tiny, we just go ahead and read it right there and have our little moment of warm fuzzies and move on. Or sometimes, such as with me and Islandborn earlier today, we end up scurrying off to the bathroom to hide until we can contain ourselve...

This is a lovely book. It’s poetic, it has a lot of humor, and a more than a bit of sweetness/pathos. I particularly liked the humor throughout, in both the words and the pictures. I loved the many Spanish words, most with English translations. The art is spectacular, full of color and vibrancy. Gorgeous! This is a perfect book for anyone who comes from elsewhere, or whose family does, and for everybody really since almost everyone knows some people who’ve rather recently come from other places....

As an immigrant myself (from Germany), I have found much with regard to Junot Díaz' 2018 Islandborn to which I can personally relate, although unlike Lola I do and even very strongly remember Germany (as we immigrated to Canada in 1976 when I was ten years old and not such as in Lola's case, when she was baby). And yes, what I absolutely and totally do appreciate the most about Islandborn is that Lola (when she asks around in her neighbourhood for a school project about one's place of origin) is...

The audio download is absolutely fantastic. It's read by the author. The illustrations are vivid enough to be lovely on the screen. The text would be too small & dense for me on my tablet, so I'm glad I chose to read it on the PC. (Because I could just listen, but of course I'm a reader so I can't help read along.)Each word is highlighted in red as it's spoken... I assume because that will help ESL students and early readers. There are a few well-placed sound effects, like music, bats, and seagu...

Gorgeous, lush illustrations. Lots of text for a picture book, but worth the journey.

I admit I was kind of expecting this to be trash, because lots of Serious Adult Literary Writers think they can write for children and then they write garbage that is insulting to children, but this one actually works as a story, plus it's funny for adults without smirking at children who might not get all the jokes (looking at you, Phantom Tollbooth, you smug asshole). There is a problem with this book, which is that it wants to be a picturebook (the art! Oh, I loved the art! Loved! So many bro...

Lovely illustrations of a Dominican NYC girls' world -- no white people in her class, including the teacher. Loving family and community. Lots of good memories of home (and one really bad one). The text is a little bit adult-focused, but it's not a bad start for an amazing adult writer! Also, I LOL'd at Nelson like 3 times, and was glad his mom brought the cupcakes. She knows what it's like to be with Nelson all day, y'all.

I feel like I've been hearing the phrase "may you live in interesting times" quite a bit lately. Its supposedly a Chinese curse that's meant to refer to a life lived in a constant state of conflict and crisis. Its often said to me in reference to the neon orange Nazi in the White House but its equally applicable to the ever growing refugee and immigration crisis here as well.We are a nation of immigrants and it kills me how often we seem to need reminding of that fact. We are a nation built with...

I really like the beginning of this book, actually almost until the end, when the monster came. And I did not understand the monster, or what it was or should have been, or why it is there.Lola is a sweet kid that was born on the island. The class got an assignment to draw the place that they were born at. Every kid was from somewhere different, and the kids were excited about the drawing. Except Lola, because she did not remember anything about the island. And then, came the solution, ask other...

"Memory is Magic."Junot Diaz writes a picture book, lush in description and characterization, about a little Afro-Latina named Lola, discovering how special memories color our families and experiences. Pros: :1. Ah! The brown shades of her family, neighbors, and friends dance on the page. Even the curls represent textures often ignored.2. The story, including a monster, describes beauty, magic, wonder, and a bit of struggle overcome by the love of the islanders (I'm assuming it's the Dominica...

More like 4 and a half -- my daughter says five. Beautiful look at family history of immigration through the eyes of a child. The Island seems to be the Dominican Republic and Lola and her family now live in a land of many immigrants where it snows... New York, Connecticut? - but the Island (monsters and all) is always with them. Great illustrations.

I should probably preface this review by sheepishly admitting: I was surprised to learn Junot Díaz had written a picture book. I was first introduced to Díaz's work via Drown as an undergraduate, and I think I just sort of assumed that the beautiful, evocative raw storytelling he had shown in Drown and subsequent works, would have a hard time working in different genres. (If you're judging me for underestimating a writer's talent - judge away. I'm totally judging myself.) But in Islandborn, Díaz...

When Lola's class, whose members all came to the United States from other countries, is given an assignment to draw a picture of their first home, the young Dominican-American girl is faced with a quandary. She was just a baby when her family left the Island, and she doesn't remember anything about it. But as she questions family, friends and neighbors, she slowly builds up a picture of this place that is a part of her, even if she can't recall it...A celebrated author of adult fiction, Dominica...

ISLANDBORN is a beautiful book that bursts with magic, culture, and color. It is an absolute joy to read no matter what your age. It offers up a multicultural perspective that is a needed thing in libraries serving homogeneous small towns like mine. The only thing that peeved me was the unnecessary use of "like" as a verbal pause in the text. That word is used way too much anyway; it doesn't need to be in the text of a book for beginning readers.

Featured in a grandma reads session.This is one little girl's story about a big move in her life. She was born on an island - Puerto Rico? The book never says. . .a neighbor has a map on his wall of where they moved from, and it looks like PR? The community she has moved to with her family has many people who appear to have come from the the same place, interspersed with others, and so is diverse, as is her classroom. She is able to fulfill her teacher's assignment to report back on where her pe...

Too much text for little ones to read alone but this is the perfect book to read together. It will inevitably prompt questions and stir the imagination. The gorgeous and vibrant illustrations alone would keep my attention for hours. Share it with the Islandborn kids--and adults!--in your life.

I was able to relate to this book more than I thought I would. In high school, I was given a similar assignment, where we were supposed to give a little presentation on our family heritage. At the time, I knew next to nothing about who my ancestors were or where they'd come from. In contrast, my diverse group of friends (from places like India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines) had no problem with the assignment; they were still in touch with their roots, and some of them had visited their countri...