BETWEEN WORDS

How do you find the right words to make a friend?

Young Kai lives a nomadic life with his father, setting up camp “on windy plains, by lapping lakes, near dusty villages.” Everywhere, Kai sees children talking and playing, but he doesn’t join in, self-conscious about his language barrier and other differences. Instead, he finds solace in creating piles of rocks that mark their home for as long as they stay in one place. Kai tops each cairn with his favorite spotted rock, which resembles the night sky. When Kai’s father decides they’ll stay in one place for a while, Kai tries to talk to the other children. But they laugh at his strange words and run away. In anger, Kai smashes his cairn, kicking his special rock into the sea. Stricken, he jumps in after it and meets a young mermaid who understands his stone-building language. Vivid, wordless scenes awash in sea-glass green with yellow, orange, and red accents convey the warmth and playfulness of the children’s interactions. Kai gifts his special stone to his new friend and returns to land, having found the language he needs to build a new friendship. Through powerful visual storytelling, this exquisite tale makes clear that words aren’t necessary to develop a truly lasting bond. Characters are brown-skinned; in an author’s note, Tanaka explains how she drew on her Japanese and Mexican heritage to develop Kai’s story.

A pitch-perfect tale for shy friend-makers everywhere.