Paper Boat Paper Bird

by David Almond, Kirsti Beautyman (Illustrator)

A stunning new story from the bestselling, prize-winning David Almond, unfolding the magic of the everyday. Mina, from the unforgettable Skellig and My Name is Mina, journeys to Japan and discovers the wonders of the world around her.

Kyoto, Japan. Mina is on a bus. Everything is strange and beautiful.

Mina watches as a woman folds a piece of paper into an origami boat, then floats it over to her.

As Mina discovers the magic of origami, her eyes are opened to the wonders of the real city around her.

Unfold the magic of the everyday, on a journey with one of the world's best-loved authors - with stunning illustrations from Kirsti Beautyman in black and orange throughout.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Graphic Novels

112 pages, Hardcover

Published August 4, 2022

About the author

David Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He started out as an author of adult fiction before finding his niche writing literature for young adults.

His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002.

His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future); forms of education; growing up and adapting to change; the nature of 'the self'. He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake.

He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature.

Almond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England.

Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010).

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first pick of #middlegrademarch and I am so happy I read this book! I chose this book for the prompt “published in the last year”.

The book is just gorgeous inside out. I fell in love with how whimsical this short story is. I got mesmerised with the colourful illustrations. They are truly the most amazing! Kudos to the artist, Kristi Beautyman.

I got this book recently and I am quite happy with the read. It’s short and beautiful. The story happened during a bus journey ride. A little girl observes a woman making a paper boat and the story turns into another story to where the paper boat takes her.

Just the read I was craving for!

Do check out this book.

I feel I am the only one who read this book!

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty OK book about a girl in Japan finding a love for origami and maybe meeting a friend!


I spotted this one over at one of my libraries (thank you all so much for adding more English books, also some lesser known ones) and just had to get it. I love books about Japan and I also loved the cover for this book!

😍 The cover! And with that also the illustrations! Love the style and love how pretty it is.
😍 Loved that eventually we got to see two stories. Not just Mina, but also Miyako. On the one hand we see Mina travelling through the city/Japan and then on the other hand we see Miyako go swimming and meet his dad’s new girlfriend. And eventually these two got together.
😍 The origami! That was just so much fun and I loved seeing Mina discover a love for it. I hope that she will be making many more pretty origami items.
😍 How she used origami to make something to potentially meet a friend.
😍 That Mina tried using Japanese words. OK, she doesn’t know much, but I did love that she knew a few and used them.
😍 The lady on the bus and her origami. Loved that she didn’t mind that Mina couldn’t speak much Japanese and that she showed her through gestures.
😍 I loved travelling with Mina and her mom and see all sorts of pretty things! I still really would love to visit Japan one day, for now it is just a dream as it is way too expensive and with my allergies (for soy/nuts/peanuts) I would have to be so careful.

😶 But I would have just liked to see more. While there was a lot that I liked I just didn’t feel it always connected and I felt like it could just use a bit more. Just make the book just a bit longer, expand the story, give us more on the characters.
😶 The ending, it just came out of nowhere for me.
😶 As I said, loved Mina using Japanese words, trying them out… but it could have really done without the constant – between parts. Like A-ri-ga-to. It was OK the first time, but after a while I was like, is this necessary?

All in all, I am happy I read this book, but I just had expected a bit more given the blurb and how the book started.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[nadiaizzaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on my Instagram :
www.instagram.com/trulybynia

[Kim Zwart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misschien had ik eerst andere boeken van David Almond moeten lezen, maar dit boekje eigenlijk vooral opgepakt in de bibliotheek door de prachtige illustraties! De illustraties zijn zó mooi. Het verhaal is niet zo diepgaand oid maar dat mag je misschien ook niet verwachten haha.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not having read the other books relating to Mina, this hasn't touched me the way it seems to have touched others. It is beautifully illustrated.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making connections, a beautiful new cultural context.

I read Skellig and My Name is Mina many years ago now, so I cannot recall the stories/characters well. This could have been any young girl however, I don't think you need to know Almond's previous work to enjoy this slight volume.

Based on experiences the writer had with his own daughter, Mina and her mother are visiting Japan. They watch a woman making paper birds, are given one, Mina writes her name on it and frees it... and a Japanese boy finds it.

This gives the reader some insights in Japan, scenes of the cities there, simple vocabulary, customs, sights. And a story about looking for beauty, finding connections and people finding each other.

I liked the colour palette, Mina and her mother look very similar to those drawn as native Japanese, which I think is making a point.

It's a peaceful story, quite inward looking and calm, without making big points it quietly takes us on a tour and makes us ponder.

A very quick read, it might go over some heads, but it is rather lovely to look at and consider.

Adults and children above age 9 might appreciate this.

[Mairéad · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 A beautifully illustrated middle grade novel inspired by the author's trip to Japan with his own daughter. The story is told from the perspective of Mina, a young girl who is visiting Japan with her mother. Nina experiences wonder and awe at the beautiful origami gifted to her by a stranger, and readers will be awed themselves by the wonderful pictures that accompany this short, heartwarming tale.
I would happily recommend this to children aged 8+ who enjoy stories with an air of magic/mystery, or who like to explore other cultures in their reading.
Thank you to Netgalley.co.uk and Hodder Children's books for the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

this is a beautiful little story about the interconnectedness of everything and how a small act of kindness can have such a big impact. Mina’s journey to finding a friend while in Kyoto. Quietly beautiful this. The illustrations throughout by are just gorgeous. I loved the use of red against the black and grey colour palette.

[Karen Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this.
Paper Boat Paper Bird is a beautifully illustrated book showing the power of hope and the need to take time to look around us and experience the work we inhabit.
It features Mina travelling to Japan, and was inspired by Almond's own travels. While travelling on a bus, Mina sees a woman folding an origami boat and she imagines it on its journey.
Simple prose, supported by illustrations that capture the ideas conveyed in the text.

[Elodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's about a girl who's called mina and she goes on a bus and met a lady who was making origami

[Alsjem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I had got through a David Almond story without crying . . . and then I read the author's afterword.

[Avyukt Sriram · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good but it was short

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lightweight, but pretty

[kb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching and sweet story, and the art complements it so well. Filed under All-Time Faves list!

[Isa Rive · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. From an interesting set up, the story didn’t go anywhere.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally requested this book on NetGalley last year when it was due out in hardback. I didn't get around to reading it as my TBR pile was so big. However, as the paperback is due on the 2nd February 2023 I've finally had the opportunity to read it and I am so grateful that I have.

The timing of reading it now seems to have stumbled upon me serendipitously as I am currently learning Japanese on Duolingo and I'm teaching an Origami workshop next week. Isn't it funny how the universe works.

There's a beauty in the simplicity of this book. Although Mina is a character from David Almond's previous books you don't need to have read the others to read this story. It's shorter than what I was expecting in length but a pure delight to read and meant I've read it more than once.

I love that at the end of the book David tells you the true background to the story and for children it's a wonderful way for them to understand how some authors shape their writing from their real life experiences. Taking the essence of their adventure and forming it into something new.

Mina and her Mother are visiting Japan. The description of their first encounter with Japan is one that truly resonates with my travels to Japan; it's such a magical place.

While in Kyoto on their way to visit Kinkaka-ji (Golden Temple) on a bus Mina observes a lady folding an Origami boat and a bird that she gifts to Mina. Mina replicates her own and puts out her simple token of friendship into the world.

This story brought back so many wonderful memories for me. I too travelled on buses and the shinkansen in Japan folding different animals on exquisite Japanese Origami paper. I too had been taught by a Japanese lady who we met. I made lots of cranes!

I received an electronic ARC of this book on my Kindle and so I got a hint of the beautiful artwork in the book by Kirsti Beautyman - I would love to see a physical copy to be able to admire Kirsti's work fully.

It's a story of hope, innocence and friendship. Of discovering the new through the simplicity of the everyday. New words, new foods, new places and new people. A book to fill your heart with warmth and have you re-reading over and over. It's a highly recommended read from me.

[Rebecca Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most beautiful short story that I have read in a while! David Almond has portrayed the beauty in simplicity and every day life in Mina’s adventure in Japan. Coupled with the beautiful illustrations, I am now ready to book a holiday to Japan and to spend my time learning origami! Having a love for Japan and its culture already, I was drawn to this story from the outset and it captured many elements of Japan wonderfully. It was a delightful read and is much the messages within are deeper than I originally imagined. It captures the power of a simple gesture of kindness, the power of friendship, how we should take the opportunity to appreciate life around us and how there can be magic in the world, we just need to take the time to find it.

After having read the ARC of this on my iPad, I will be purchasing the hardback copy of this story as I know that it will be one that I will go back to appreciate again and again. A moment has to be taken to appreciate the artwork that fills the book too; again it is simple, but beautiful. This is a book that should be on everyone’s bookshelves! Even if you haven’t read any of David’s other works, it would not detract from the enjoyment of this work.

Thank you NetGalley, David Almond and Hodder Children’s Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very short picture book about a girl who travels from England to Japan with her mother. A nice woman who is folding paper on the bus gives her two origami creations. Rather than taking them home as treasures, Mina unfolds them, writes messages, refolds them and sends them out onto water to be found. A boy does find them and they see each other by coincidence a few times and maybe start a friendship.

I think I'm at a disadvantage for not knowing Mina from a previous book called Skellig. The pictures are sweet but the overall effect is a rather fluffy little story. For such a small tale there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't like the repetition with breakdown by syllable of every Japanese word. I didn't like the use of the adjective 'indecipherable' to describe the boy's written name or the signs in the city. I didn't like that rather than emphasizing that the woman who originally folded the shapes was expert, the child was described twice as doing it badly.

Instead of including a short essay on the inspiration for the book, meeting the empress and an introductory passage from Skellig, the obvious choice for me would have been to include instructions on how to make the boat and bird.

Others who see themselves or their child in this story may love it. I'm glad that Barcelona library had it and that it wasn't a special purchase for home.

[Divya Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple illustrations, minimal text. A young girl Mina is visiting Kyoto with her mother. Mina feels home at Kyoto, even though they have come from England. In a crowded bus in Kyoto, she observes a lady fold sheets of paper, engrossed in origami. The kind and gentle lady makes Mina a paper boat and a paper bird, and with these two, Mina finds a friend in a stranger, the book is about how this happens.

Kyoto definitely could have been rendered better in illustrations here, the drawings felt measly. The only thing I learnt from this book - about the Kinkakuji shrine in Kyoto, that the temple sits upon its own reflection in a lake, that it holds Buddha's ashes, it was burnt down by a crazy monk in the year 1950 and later rebuilt. It is the distressed monk's burning down of such a beautiful place that inspired Yukio Mishima's novel - The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. I liked the author's afterword more than the story itself.

An okay, one-time read that you can manage in about half an hour, just stand and read while in a library or at a bookstore.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read illustrated novel (though with quite small print) aimed at 8 to 10 year olds, Mina and her mother are visiting Japan experiencing the culture, learning some basic Japanese words and enjoying the sites of Kyoto. While travelling on a bus Mina watches a woman folding a piece of paper that becomes an origami boat which she gifts to the girl along with a paper bird and some origami paper. The origami becomes a connecting thread as she and her mother pass by a man and his son, also exploring Kyoto.

This is a quiet story that highlights Japanese culture, special times spent with a parent and how lives can cross incidentally - there is no real subtext to this - just that it happens - and appreciating new places, and new cultures. A limited colour palette of predominately grey, with space and red highlight different aspect of the environment, and most particularity the origami.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This charming and simple tale has such a profound message of communication and friendship that I read it three times back to back as I was enchanted by it. Mina - the wonderful character from Skellig / I am Mina is now in Japan with her mother when she witness a lady on a bus creating an origami boat which she gives to Mina. As Mina journeys to the temple at Kinkaku-ji , she continues to delight in the origami and creates some of her …she places a boat in a lake which is discovered by Miyako and so the story further unfolds ( no pun intended) as to the meeting of the two young people . This is a tale of serendipity and connection - absolutely delightful .Kristi Beautyman’s illustration further enhance the book with their ethereal quality

[Alex Townley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful, gentle story with a wonderful illustration style. The writing is light and interspersed between the imagery, creating an immersive reading experience. The use of a limited colour palette gives it a very recognisable style, and works really well with the subject of Japanese culture and life.

The characters are really sweet. I've not actually read the author's other work, but I'm aware they link in - this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book though. Some areas did seem a bit vague so maybe there's where the pre-knowledge would have helped.

Overall it's well put together, and has a lovely message about culture, friendship and discovery, so I think this would be great for young children (and older readers of course!).

[Farah G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a highly imaginative story about Mina's travels on a bus in Kyoto, where she meets a woman who introduces her to origami by making a boat and then a bird.

Mina is transported by the experience, and begins to view the world around her in a different way. The accompanying illustrations do a great job of conveying this.

The writer has packed a lot into this little tale, and some things are conveyed by implication - like Mina's effects to speak Japanese with the few words that she knows.

It is a sweet little story, and will ignite the middle grade reader's imagination as well as conveying the joy of travel.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[The Reading Jackdaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with Mina when I first became a school librarian and 'My Name is Mina' is one of my favourite stories, so I was very excited to see this book was available. David Almond is a such a magical, lyrical and thoughtful writer who gets to the heart or human being and this book did not disappoint. Short and beautifully formed, we follow Mina and her mum to Japan where the magic of the city unfolds through origami. This simple yet magical tale is enhanced further by the stunning illustrations of Kirsti Beautyman.

[Marcella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paper Boat, Paper Bird is een magisch getint verhaal waarin de illustraties net zo’n grote rol spelen als de tekst. Maar wat er precies wordt vertelt in die voornamelijk zwart/witte illustraties met rode accenten is een beetje ongrijpbaar. Toch vond ik het mooi; over Mina die zich thuis voelt in Kyoto, Japan maar niet precies kan benoemen waarom. Over toevallige ontmoetingen, origami, een behoefte aan vriendschap, de magie van alledag en een blijvende verwondering.

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Almond's books are always full of everyday magic and this is no exception. Here we meet Mina of My Name is Mina and Skellig but this is a Mina for younger readers. A wonderful chapter book with stunning, graceful illustrations, this takes Mina and her mum to Japan where the folds of origami unfurl a beautiful connection in a country far from home.

[Dorthe Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det er så utrolig fint å bli mer og mer kjent med Mina. Elsker dette universet til @davidjohnalmond, får liksom ikke helt nok, og går å gleder meg til neste bok. Dette er nok ment som en barnebok, den har masse vakre symbolske illustrasjoner og lite tekst, men universet er vel så passende for oss litt eldre også. Her på reise til Japan med vakkert syn og dine holdninger via Mina.

[Kirsten Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful combination of words and illustrations
A perfect wee story
"Sometimes a book can give a child the root of stability and security. Other times it seems a book gives wings to soar and fly anywhere"

[Riley Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book by the award winning author David Almond. On a crowded bus, Mina meets a woman who makes a paper boat and a paper bird made of origami. She gives them to Mina, who soon finds a new love for crafts.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of David Almond, like me will love this book and want to return to his earlier works.