Makers

April 15, 2024
When two apprentice boat makers in a coastal town dream of “sailing across the sea together,” their partnership amplifies their individual strengths. “Van moved from project to project, always trying something new. Minh wanted things to be perfect.” After graduation, the two open individual boat-making businesses. Vo’s digitally finished pencil and ink illustrations contrast each character’s less-than-stellar experiences: Van’s boats are innovative but impractical (a pirate rowboat promptly sinks with its client on board), while Minh is stalled by perfectionism (intensive labors result in a single tiny block). The story resolves in classic buddy-film style, with the epiphany that collaboration doesn’t mean losing individuality and the realization of their long-ago dream. Powerful partnership prevails—even when humans do their best to ignore it—in this can-do picture book. Characters read as Southeast Asian. Ages 4–8.

June 15, 2024
Boat makers with very different approaches struggle alone but find success when they work together. Two young apprentices, Van and Minh, live in a town by the coast. Van loves to experiment with new approaches, while Minh wants things to be perfect. They both "[dream] of sailing across the sea together," but upon graduating from their apprenticeships, they open separate shops on the opposite sides of town. Before they part, Van gifts Minh a golden chisel, and Minh gives Van a golden hammer. As the years pass, the young men toil fruitlessly. Van creates boat after boat with outlandish ideas that don't quite work--one has "the wrong size balloon," while another has "too many umbrellas." Meanwhile, Minh doesn't make any boats at all, though he talks about "finding the perfect tools" and "almost" finishing a boat. It's not until they join their golden tools together that they finally build their dream boat. Much of Vo's storytelling happens in the varied visual compositions, with just enough text on each page to push the plot along. Saturated pastel hues convey the island feel, while cartoony yet expressive characters bring to life a story about the challenges and rewards of creating art. Though the various objects and visual motifs appear to be symbolic, deciphering their meanings may take more patience than most young readers possess. Van and Minh are brown-skinned; other characters are diverse in skin tone. A charming allegory about the creative process, albeit with some enigmatic details. (origami boat instructions) (Picture book. 4-7)

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August 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 2 In the latest from Vo (Gibberish, 2022), two young friends, both learning about boat building, hope eventually to sail together on the high seas. Van has numerous imaginative ideas that don't work well, while Minh is a perfectionist unable to complete a project, since everything needs to be just so. As they grow older, they separate to work independently in their own shipbuilding shops across town, but neither is successful, held back by their personal limitations. When they come to understand the benefits of joining forces and combining their respective creativity and perfectionism, their dreams of adventure finally come true. Vo's beautifully creative and detailed illustrations lean on tropical golds, blues, browns, and greens. The boys' personalities are reflected in their brown hair: Van's is spiky and in disarray, while Minh's is a neat bowl cut. The charming story concludes with instructions for young makers, showing how to make a paper boat.

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