Goodbye, Koi

Written and illustrated by Jack Wong

Orchard Books (Scholastic Inc.)

978-1-338830996

48 pp.

Ages 4–8

Releases September 15, 2026 

 

Moving means leaving as well as arriving. Anticipating the unknown can be scary, as can leaving the familiar and saying goodbye. For the young boy in Jack Wong's newest picture book, leaving his dear koi behind is a true reflection of what the child is feeling about his own move to another country.

...would remembering their old home make them feel lonely, too? (pg. 29) 

Illustration by Jack Wong from Goodbye, Koi, written by Jack Wong

The story starts with a boy and his dad taking their koi to their new home. The gorgeous fish of red and orange, who'd once lived in a large tank indoors, are taken to the ponds at a park with lush gardens, pavilions, bamboo, and more. As they prepare for their own journey, purchasing a winter coat and seeing friends for the last time, the boy thinks about his koi. Will they be cold outdoors? Will they make new friends? Will they remember? Will they be lonely? 

Illustration by Jack Wong from Goodbye, Koi, written by Jack Wong

Everything the child wonders about his koi reflects his own thoughts and concerns. Fortunately, his father reassures him with each answer, and the boy finally recognizes that, like the koi, they have each other to remember together.
 
Jack Wong appends his story with two sections titled, "A Journey of My Own," and "Hello, Koi." It is evident that, as he did in his earlier picture books like When You Can Swim (2023) and The Words We Share (2023), Jack Wong draws from his own life to give readers real stories. Goodbye, Koi may not be Jack Wong's story, but it is the story of moving, of leaving behind, of trepidation of the unknown, of a loss. It's wondering about what will be when you don't know what will be, and the ache of leaving something behind.

Illustration by Jack Wong from Goodbye, Koi, written by Jack Wong

For those who are familiar with Jack Wong's earlier picture books, you'll notice the distinct difference in his illustration style in Goodbye, Koi. Using Chinese brush painting, a traditional art style, Jack Wong reflects the essence of the koi and the movement of the boy and his family. There is a fluidity of brush stroke that matches the story better than any realistic representation could.
 
It's a new world for the koi and the boy and his father—who are last seen on a plane flying through blue skies—but it is one of promise for life and for opportunity, albeit through change.  

When You Can Swim

Written and illustrated by Jack Wong

Orchard Books (Scholastic)

978-1-338-83096-5

48 pp

Ages 4-8

May 2023 

When You Can Swim is a promise of possibilities. With four little words, a parent offers their child opportunities and experiences, all once they learn to swim.

From When You Can Swim by Jack Wong

Though the story begins and ends with one mother encouraging her child to learn to swim, various parents describe what their children will experience once they do. They speak of all the places they will go and what they will do and see. There will be a trip to the ocean...

past the sandpipers tracing

the shape of a wave on the shore

past the edge of wet

splashing at your ankles

to receive the water's welcome.

From When You Can Swim by Jack Wong

They'll experience the joys of floating and exploring underwater worlds and playing in waterfalls. Oh, and the things they'll see and feel and hear! From the early morning mist on the lake to listening to "the clinking of waves passing in and out of a million pebbles telling of countless days and months of years" and the echoes of voices beneath a canal bridge from which they've dived. 

They'll push themselves to far-off islands to pick blueberries and swim into darker waters that may look scary but promise gold. The possibilities are enormous, and they will all come when the children learn to swim.

So swim, little one!

When You Can Swim may be Jack Wong's debut picture book but it's a triumph of the heart and the senses, like he's a seasoned author-illustrator.  Whether it's for a child who needs to be encouraged to venture into the water for the first time or for a parent remembering their own experiences with water and swimming, When You Can Swim is a beautiful expression of what promise learning to swim can offer. Most of us will be taught to swim to keep ourselves safe when in or near the water but Jack Wong makes us see that there is so much more than that. It's the offering of a sensory experience of sights and sounds and touch. It's seeing and hearing and feeling. And to get that feeling may require some risk-taking and confidence building, but it also requires and feeds curiosity. 

From When You Can Swim by Jack Wong

The breadth of the experiences that are open to the children who have learned to swim are as expansive and sweeping as Jack Wong's illustrations. His artwork, created with pastels and watercolours, gives an ethereal quality to the natural landscapes and the water settings, intensifying those feelings of wonder and newness that comes from exploration and novelty. There's movement, as befits a book about swimming, and there's amazement that is both internal and external to the swimmer. For the young novice swimmer and the reader, When You Can Swim opens the door for possibilities and offers a promise that good things will happen with the courage to try and learn.