Islandborn

By: Junot Díaz

Narrated by: Junot Díaz

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.

A Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration

Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else.
Hers was a school of faraway places.

When Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.”

Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past, and to ourselves.

Critic reviews

★ "With his tenacious, curious heroine and a voice that’s chatty, passionate, wise, and loving, Díaz entices readers to think about a fundamental human question: what does it mean to belong?"–Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “A sensitive and beautiful story of culture, identity, and belonging—a superb picture book outing for Díaz and one to be shared broadly in a variety of settings.” –School Library Journal, starred review


★ “This important title will be enjoyed by young children and may spark many significant discussions.” –Booklist, starred review

“ Lola said even though I don’t remember anything about the island, she knew the island was her”. Love it!

I really liked this book, I think it can change the perspective of many people, after they move out of their countries.

Excellent

This is both an excellent book as well as a perfect narration by the author. My children are obsessed with listening to it. Excellent.

Amazing Book

Ordered the hardcover because it spoke to my roots and how I felt growing up in the US as a immigrant who came as an infant.

All about family and community, enjoyable!

Children’s picture books are small works of art unto themselves. When you pair the audio with the book itself it takes it to another level.

The story is of a family and community sharing their vivid memories of the Dominican Republic with a little girl for her school assignment and it’s precious. Loved the addition of moments of music and some brief sound effects of birds and dolphins.

The author narrated the book himself, but I honestly think the book would have been better served with a professional narrator as he is a better writer than he is a narrator.

A lovely book, I really recommend pairing the audio with the book itself, or you will miss out on the vibrant illustrations that add a great deal to the story.

Very enjoyable and imaginative

My 3- year old and I enjoy this book a lot. She asks for it often, since she was about 2.5 when we got it. We see the pages on kindle and listen on audible. She is now happy to listen without the visual, sometimes. I like the narration; it's clear and interesting and I like the NYC accent. I also like the sounds and music that go with the narration. Great story of imagination and an immigrant experience.