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About the Books

Erika's Story Reviews

Mississippi Morning Reviews

Eli Remembers Reviews

Always With You Reviews

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Hazel Rochman Booklist, 2008: Based on a true story, this poignant picture book tells of one of the hundreds of thousands of children orphaned by the Vietnam War...The quiet words are delivered through the child's perspective, while Himler's beautiful, spacious watercolors show the terrifying bombing, the sepia-and-gray-toned world Kim sees after her concussion, and then her sadness and hope during the following five years. The format suggests a traditional picture-book readership, but the subject matter is difficult...Try this with elementary-schoolers who are slightly older than the traditional picture-book listeners...
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Spirituality & Practice :…this touching story reveals the tragedy of the war in Vietnam and terrible toll it has taken on the orphans from that time who number between 300,000 and 800,000.  VanderZee’s picture book shows how nurturing and loving words have a healing power and can serve as a lifeline to the survivors of the senseless brutality of war.
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MultiCultural Review, Fall 2008: How does one learn history? Partly it is from the stories we read based on historical events. Like classic works in this genre, this picture book tells about survival after war and puts a face on what is called collateral damage.

In this well-told story with perfectly matched illustrations, all the Kims who came to the United States after the Vietnam War have a book to share with their children and grandchildren to help tell their stories. The rest of us have an opportunity to walk for a while in their shoes.
Mary J. Lickteig University of Nebraska-Omaha