NUNU AND THE SEA

An emotional journey of epic proportions.

Nunu, an Asian-presenting child with red glasses, angrily shreds a paper house on her desk; the yellow scraps pop against the grayscale background of her room. “It is all too much,” an unseen narrator explains as Nunu lies on the floor, sobbing. Like Max in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), Nunu discovers another world in her room—a vast, steely ocean dotted with yellow scraps. Aboard a folded paper boat, Nunu fixes her gaze far away from her unhappiness, but soon the waves swell around her tiny boat until she’s swept into a giant whirlpool. Nunu is alone. “Or so she thinks.” A spirited paper crane escapes from her backpack, and Nunu folds more paper to add to her menagerie. With the vessel becoming overcrowded, she must sacrifice her boat to create something new for herself. Kung subtly introduces a soft pastel palette as Nunu finds her way back to calm waters and her home, where, evoking Sendak’s work again, warmth and love await her. Kung has deftly folded her own magic into evocative prose and mesmerizing artwork that enchants in its simplicity. The author/illustrator invites young readers to confront big feelings and to ride them out, with the promise of acceptance and reconciliation upon return. An author’s note offers parents a starting point for beginning these important conversations with children.

Captivating.