My Tree (May 2021, Holiday House)
A South Korean immigrant herself, Hope Lim brings her perspective on the struggle for child immigrants to feel at home to bear through spare, poetic text, perfectly matched by soft, lyrical illustrations by Korean artist Il Sung Na.
AWARDS
Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2022, winning illustrator
American Illustration 40
Communication Arts 2021 Award of Excellence
The Original Art Show 2021 (Society of Illustrators)
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Review
There is a calm symbolism throughout the story—of old memories and new places, of homesickness and adaptation, of being uprooted and the thrill of new life. Lim and Na’s collaboration has captured the essence of quiet immigrant resilience.
Transcending time and place, this gentle book will take root in many hearts.
-Starred review by Kirkus reviews
Na gives this quiet story heft and drama with bold, crisped-edged forms; saturated hues; and feathery details. The spreads flow into each other, carrying much of the story’s emotional weight. Lim, meanwhile, crafts this story with a tree-scale sense of time, paying homage to an arboreal marker of the past and offering hope that stretches out into the future.
-Publishers Weekly
Empathic vulnerability marks every page of Lim's story: the challenging uprooting and hopeful replanting that define a faraway move, the tenderness of new bonds, the encouragement of childhood creativity, the joy of new growth. Co-creator Na meticulously heightens Lim's narrative with especially affecting whimsical details. Throughout, Na adds special somethings beyond the text: a birthday cake, Plumee's remarkable transformations, the child's artistic memorial. Lim and Na's poignantly affecting collaboration is a reassuring homage to resilient adaptation, familial support and unexpectedly nurturing friendships, ensuring My Treewill take root in hearts of all ages.
-Starred review by Shelf Awareness
Na’s digital artwork features a springlike palette, favoring shades of plum, pink, and blue. The full-bleed spreads are richly hued, except for those depicting the boy’s imagination, which turn pastel. A good choice for one-on-one sharing or for Earth Day story hours.
-Booklist
Themes of resilience, hope, and vulnerability run through Lim’s simple and poetic text. Na’s illustrations help build empathy. On one dramatic double-page spread, a nearly glowing white silhouette of a ghostly Plumee appears against a dark night sky. The high contrast in the hue conveys not just the absence of the tree but also the feeling of emptiness that her absence brings. Gentle symbolism employed throughout creates opportunities for discussion of change, connection, and adaptation.
-The Horn Book
