One Giant Leap

When the snow falls, blanketing the world, creating it anew, it is an irresistible invitation to the intrepid explorer to venture out into the unknown. Immersed in the imaginative space, the main character in Thao Lam’s One Giant Leap dons a spacesuit and heads down to the lunar surface. Stepping out into the frozen exterior, the little astronaut observes the boot print left by their first step on the pristine surface, calling to mind the storied footsteps of Neil Armstrong, and embarks on a whimsical and unexpected journey over the lunar landscape. Jumping around in ⅙th gravity is only the start, and what fun it is to bound from one hill to the next. However, the moon of this little astronaut’s imagination holds some surprises, and the expedition will prove to be eventful and unexpected.

Lam’s wordless picture book is composed of textured collage and layers of different coloured papers that animate the space and add to the fantastical nature of the adventure, from the child’s first step into the realm of fantasy until their last, when they arrive back in the safety of their known world. One Giant Leap is a refreshing reminder of the child’s capacity for imagination and wonder, and about the enjoyment inventive play brings. Flights of fancy and imaginative play take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

One Giant Leap is a refreshing reminder of the child’s capacity for imagination and wonder, and about the enjoyment inventive play brings.

THAO LAM is the critically acclaimed author/illustrator of The Line in the Sand, THAO, Wallpaper, My Cat Looks Like My Dad, Skunk on a String, and The Paper Boat, named a best book of 2020 by Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal, the Globe and Mail, CBC, and others. She studied illustration at Sheridan College and has an insatiable love of colored and textured papers, which she uses to create her exuberant collages. She draws inspiration from the stories she hears, from the beauty in everyday things, and from the work of the many illustrators she admires. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Publisher: Owl Kids (March 1, 2024)
Hardcover 9″ x 10″ | 48 pages
Ages 3 to 7
ISBN: 9781771475990

Christina Barber

Christina Barber is a writer and educator who lives in Vancouver. An avid reader, she shares her passion for Canadian history and literature through her reviews on Instagram @cb_reads_reviews. She has most recently been committed to writing and staging formally innovative single and multi-act plays.