About the Holiday
National Reading Month was designed to encourage children and adults to read every day and celebrates the joys and benefits that reading together can bring. Reading with your child can be fun and frivolous, but it can also offer ways for children to share their feelings about serious or poignant topics and begin discussions that can lead to understanding or healing. As the month progresses, look for books to share for all the aspects of your life.
I’d like to thank Kokila Books/Penguin Random House for sharing a digital copy of Our Lake with me to review.
Our Lake
By Angie Kang
A young boy follows his older brother up a “long and steep” hill to the tip of a boulder overlooking a glistening lake, where their father, now gone, used to take them swimming. He mimics his brother, who has taken on the mantel of responsibility, in their old traditions—taking off his shirt, stretching. But while his brother approaches the lip of the rock, he hangs back, watching him “press his arms tight to his head and slip neatly into the lake.” The water ripples, and then his brother shoots upward, “triumphant.”
Illustration and text © 2025 by Angie Kang. Courtesy of Kokila/Penguin Random House.
His brother calls for him to jump, but his nerves overtake him and he closes his eyes. “On the insides of my eyelids,” he says, “I see Father.” He recalls their routine, the way his father soared before splashing down, and the sound of his laugh as he beckoned his sons to follow.
“When I open my eyes, he joy is still there, humming in my limbs,” the boy says. He hears his brother call to him again and shakes off his fear. As he nears the water, he sees his father meet him, arms outstretched. His brother cheers as he splashes in. They embrace, both feeling the presence of the father they miss.
Illustration and text © 2025 by Angie Kang. Courtesy of Kokila/Penguin Random House.
Angie Kang’s lyrical storytelling soars on the openhearted voice of her young narrator and the caring guidance of his big brother. The boys’ uplifting memories of their father and their joyful embrace of returning to one of their favorite places are moving and comforting, and ultimately inspire reassurance that the spirit of loved ones lives on within the heart.
Kang’s gloriously rich gouache, crayon, and colored pencil illustrations illuminate the close relationship between the brothers and, individually, with their father, as exemplified by a red hat the older brother is wearing as the story begins. Later, readers learn—in a symbolic image—that this hat belonged to the boys’ father. Each boy’s facial expressions and stances also carry the story forward. Kang’s saturated paintings also offer metaphorical undertones that resonate with the truth of life’s sometimes difficult climbs as well as the wonders of shaking off fear and diving into it headfirst.
A beautiful and poignant story to help any child affected by grief or loss to find peace and joy again, Our Lake is highly recommended for families and is a must for school and public library collections.
Ages 4 – 8
Kokila/Penguin Random House, 2025 | ISBN 978-0593698235
About the Author/Illustrator
Angie Kang is a Chinese American writer and illustrator living in LA. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Narrative, The Believer, and elsewhere, and has been generously supported by MacDowell and other organizations. Angie graduated from the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program with a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BA in Literary Arts from Brown University. She enjoys painting places she remembers and places she would like to go. Learn more about Angie’s writing and art at AngieKang.net and @anqiekanq on Instagram.
You can purchase Our Lake at these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (to support your local independent bookstore)
Picture Book Review
celebratepicturebooks.com 