Faraway Family by Padma Venkatraman: Book Review

This month, I read Faraway Family, a poetic picture book written by Padma Venkatraman and illustrated by Nicole Wong.

In this picture book, a young girl travels with her parents to a country that her parents and grandparents call home, but that to her, feels far from it. In the home of grandparents who feel more like strangers than family, she feels alone. But at night, when the power goes out, her grandma enters her room holding a torch and begins a game of shadow play. Through it, the girl and her grandmother enter the realm of imagination together and bridge the distance between one another.

Venkatraman’s beautiful, lyrical, and evocative writing accompanied by Wong’s lovely illustrations take the reader on a mesmerizing journey and illuminate the imagination’s ability to transcend barriers and bring people together.

Suggested writing prompt: Inspired by this poetic picture book, students could create an ekphrastic poem (a poem inspired by a painting or an artwork). Several anthologies by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, including Things We Do and Things We Wear, exemplify this poetry form.

Biography:

Padma Venkatraman is an oceanographer and the award-winning author of numerous books for young people, including The Bridge Home, Born Behind Bars, A Time to Dance, Island’s End and Climbing the Stairs. Her books have sold over a quarter of a million copies, received more than twenty starred reviews, and have won numerous major awards and honors including the WNDB Walter Award, a SCBWI Golden Kite Award, and three South Asia Book Awards. A new MG novel in verse, Safe Harbor, about a girl who finds a stranded seal, was published in January 2025.

Biography:

Nicole Wong was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, to two artist parents, so never thought of becoming anything except an illustrator.  She drew constantly as a girl—including on the walls behind furniture, where her mom would find drawings years later. She received her first freelance illustration job when she was twelve, then graduated from RISD with a BFA in illustration at twenty-two. Now, she’s happily a full-time illustrator of children’s books. She continues to live in Fall River with her husband, daughter, mean kitty, and happy, high energy dogs. She can be found online at Nicole-Wong.com.