A review by haemelle
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

5.0

The illustrations in this graphic novel are incredibly cute and I love the use of colors to differentiate the past, present, and fairy tales with the way the novel is set up having no section breaks. As a Viet-American, I have grown up being told personal stories very similar to Helen and Vinh’s from my immigrant parents. On the flip side, my parents grew up on Grimm Brothers/Disney/Russian/Middle Eastern fairy tales played on TV, so I have never had the pleasure to learn variations of popular fairy tales through a Viet lens. It was exciting to read and see a blend of fairy tales and anecdotes with traditional garments and setting to connect Tien and his mother.