Gibberish

After reading this book to my kid, I had to put it down and gulp down some tears. Hold on, mommy needs to cry a little.

A very sweet, fun, moving portrayal of moving to a new country. It's fun to read - I gibberished floridly through the foreign language (probably English) - and it's so incredibly touching. Dat is a new kid. He can't speak this language. Ugh, how frustrating. Then, one curious kid befriends him. Eventually, Dat learns the language. I died. I ded now. Excuse me while I cry.

Dat is in a new school in a new place and everyone around him speaks gibberish, but Dat does not. He feels all alone until, suddenly, a person appeared on the playground with him. They couldn't really talk together at first, but they could play. School is hard without knowing gibberish, and the school bus ride is lonely until the person appears again and begins to teach Dat words. And pretty soon Dat and Julie are friends and are filled with words to share together.

This story felt so fresh and new and I loved the way Julie boldly befriended Dat and how that friendship benefited them both. The illustrations beautifully carry the parts of the story that are hard to communicate in words.