FROM THE TOPS OF TREES

Kao Kalia Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after her Hmong family fled Laos when the Vietnam War spread to that country. She narrates her picture book with a tenderness that can only be found in drawing on early memories. The war and fear of Thailand shutting down the camp are only overheard facts as she and her cousins find cool shade and treasured snacks under the canopies of welcome trees. When her father takes her up into the one of them so she can glimpse the larger world outside the camp, her voice swells with love and wonder. Her author's note explains that when she was 4-6, she and her father returned to this source of hope many times before finally leaving to explore the world themselves. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2023]