Tag Archives: home

PPBF – Is This a House for Hermit Crab?

Posted on March 9, 2024 | 2 comments

Today I’m happy to feature a newly-illustrated version of a classic picture book that truly is a Perfect Picture Book.

Title: Is This a House for Hermit Crab?

Written By: Megan McDonald

Art By: Katherine Tillotson

Publisher/Date: Neal Porter Books/2024 (originally published by Orchard Books in 1990, with illustrations by S.D. Schindler)

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: hermit crabs, home, moving, nonfiction, nature

Opening:

Hermit Crab was growing too big for the house on his back.

Brief Synopsis: A hermit crab outgrows its shell and seeks a larger one.

Links to Resources:

  • Read the Back Matter to find out more about hermit crabs and other sea creatures;
  • Make your own hermit crab.

Why I Like this Book:

With its endearing main character seeking a new home, its repeated question, “Is this a house for Hermit Crab?”, and its repeated refrain that begs readers to turn the page, “So he stepped along the shore, by the sea, in the sand…scritch-scratch, scritch-scratch”, Is This a House for Hermit Crab? is sure to become a favorite in homes, libraries, and classrooms.

Although McDonald wrote the text over 30 years ago, the story seems fresh and the amount of text seems just right for read-alouds, even to younger kids. Tillotson’s vibrant watercolor, acrylic, finger paint, and collage illustrations made me feel like I was walking on the beach with Hermit Crab and snorkeling above the underwater action. And the facts in the Back Matter will make this a welcome resource as kids seek to learn more about hermit crabs and other ocean creatures.

A Note about Craft:

As a querying picture book author, I follow the advice of those in the know and only include books published within the last three years, max five years, as comparable titles. But as you can see above, McDonald penned the text for Is This a House for Hermit Crab? over 30 years ago. Which goes to show that some picture books that we may remember from our childhoods or from our children’s childhoods stand the test of time and are worth studying as mentor texts. In this case, I think a combination of several factors helps this story seem fresh today: the relatable story – crab has to move; the fact that very few, if any, picture books about hermit crabs have been published in the last several years; and the fairly short text with its distinct refrain – “So he stepped along the shore, by the sea, in the sand…scritch-scratch, scritch-scratch.”

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – The Mouse Who Carried a House on his Back

Posted on January 20, 2024 | 2 comments

Regular readers know I gravitate towards picture books that explore the meaning of home. And today’s Perfect Picture Book does just that!

Title: The Mouse Who Carried a House on his Back

Written By: Jonathan Stutzman

Illustrated By: Isabelle Arsenault

Publisher/Date: Candlewick Press/2022

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: home, shelter, generosity, fable, inclusion

Opening:

Vincent was a mouse with boots on his feet, a hat on his head, and a house on his back.

He had traveled many miles and lived many places, but today Vincent would live here, because he knew it was where he needed to be.

Brief Synopsis: A generous mouse shares his house with a variety of woodland animals.

Links to Resources:

  • Find an empty box and see how many blocks, stuffed animals, and/or other items you can fit in it;
  • Draw or construct your perfect house using empty boxes, paper, or even building blocks.

Why I Like this Book:

I love books that cause me to think about them, and life, long after I’ve finished reading. I’d like to say that’s why I purchased The Mouse Who Carried a House on his Back, but it was the cover, and specifically the cut-out shape of a house in the cover, that drew my attention initially. Then I noticed the smiling mouse, and that Arsenault is the illustrator (she’s one of my favorites!). After I’d read the first lines, I was hooked, and I added it to my library.

Why should you do so, too? I think kids will love the cut-outs, and the absurdity of the story: a mouse carrying a house on his back (emphasis added)?!? And all of those animals making themselves at home in that house. Kids won’t even notice that they’re learning about generosity, welcoming everyone, and doing what’s right, even when others don’t. And I think The Mouse Who Carried a House on his Back will leave older readers and adults pondering questions too, especially how Vincent knew “it was where he needed to be.”

Arsenault’s gouache, ink, and cut-paper illustrations in a warm, soft palette, invite readers into this fable-like story that, I think, kids will want to read again and again.

A Note about Craft:

The Mouse Who Carried a House on his Back is a fantasy story – not only do mice not carry houses on their backs, but a house that a mouse could carry would never be large enough to hold the menagerie of animals who take refuge in his home. But through this exaggeration, Stutzman challenges readers to think about our capacity to open our homes, and hearts, to those who need shelter, and love.

I don’t know who had the idea to add the cut-outs that appear in the cover and in several pages. But they add so much to the story, especially the all-important page turns.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – Farmhouse

Posted on September 30, 2022 | 2 comments

As I continue the transition into a new house, I’m still focusing on picture books that address the concepts of house and home. And I think I found a Perfect Picture Book that does just that, and more!

Title: Farmhouse

Written & Illustrated By: Sophie Blackall

Publisher/Date: Little Brown and Company/2022

Suitable for Ages: 4-8 and older

Themes/Topics: home, family, farmhouse, stories, what we leave behind

Opening:

Over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream that twists and turns, stands a house

Brief Synopsis: A lyrical visit to an old farmhouse that once housed a large family.

Links to Resources:

  • Watch a behind-the-scenes description of the making of Farmhouse;
  • Try constructing miniature furniture, a room, or a house from found materials;
  • Write a true story about your home and family, or, if you live in or have visited an older house, write a story about the people who lived there using clues found in the house;
  • Read the Author’s Note to learn more about the actual farmhouse that inspired this picture book.

Why I Like this Book:

From the book jacket, with its raised lettering and window frames showing views into the farmhouse, to the cover underneath, with its view inside the farmhouse, and on to the endpapers and story, Farmhouse is a treat to read and reread. Not surprisingly given its creator, the illustrations are gorgeous and so full of details. Children and adults of all ages can spend hours examining them and will find new details each time.

But focusing only on the illustrations risks missing the story, the imagined history of the family that lived in the farmhouse, based on the clues left behind when the last of the twelve children left home as an older woman.

Blackall could have ended the farmhouse’s story with this last departure, but, instead, she remained with the house, sharing how nature and wildlife took over, until “I came and cut a path” to “what remained of the old farmhouse”. Finding treasures among the leaves, nuts, and animal droppings, Blackall’s imagination and artistry took over, as she used “gifts from the falling-down house” to set the scene and fill in the story of the farmhouse’s family.

Addressing readers directly, she then reminded us that the family’s story lives on, just as our stories will, if we tell them. After reading Farmhouse, I think both children and adults will be inspired to follow Blackall’s suggestion.

From the items Blackall found, including hand-sewn clothes, an organ, wallpaper scraps, old books, and even “a button that was once a shell in the sea”, she constructed a narrative that convinces readers (at least this reader) that this farmhouse was not a mere house but a home, filled with work and play and laughter and love. What a wonderful message for kids of all ages!

A Note about Craft:

As Blackall notes in the Author’s Note, the inspiration for Farmhouse was the abandoned, falling-down farmhouse on a farm she purchased. She describes how she first encountered the house and why it inspired her. She even used materials she found in the house to create the artwork. What an insight into her creative process!

The text is one long sentence. Although readers certainly will need to pause for breath, writing it this way ties the whole together, driving home Blackall’s belief that places and people live on in the stories we tell.

Finally, Blackall herself appears towards the end of the text as the first-person narrator who creates this book.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – A Home Named Walter

Posted on September 24, 2022 | 1 comment

For anyone in moving mode, like me, I found a Perfect Picture Book, told from the perspective of a unique character. Enjoy!

Title: A Home Named Walter

Written By: Chelsea Lin Wallace

Illustrated By: Ginnie Hsu

Publisher/Date: Feiwel and Friends/2022

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: home, loss, overcoming loss, feelings, moving

Opening:

Walter was once a home.

He treasured the noise. He relished the mess. He liked the hustle and bustle.

But what he loved most was the warmth of family.

Brief Synopsis: When his family moves away, an empty house named Walter feels sad, and he decides he doesn’t want anyone else to move in, at least at first.

Links to Resources:

  • Does your house have a name? If so, why does it have that name and how do you think that name suits it? If it doesn’t have a name, think of one for it;
  • Plant in or clean up a garden, hang pictures or photographs, or add other decorations to make your house feel loved and more like a home;
  • Check out the Educator’s Guide;
  • Enjoy A Song Named Walter by Tara Trudel, based on A Home Named Walter.

Why I Like this Book:

As many adults know, moving is one of the most difficult life transitions that we undertake. And when a move involves separation from loved ones or other life transitions, as it often does, a move is even more difficult, especially for children. So I was very happy to find A Home Named Walter that, I think, will help children dealing with a move and the many emotions involved.

Starting with the title, Wallace draws a distinction between a home that is cozy, lived in, and loved, and a house that is merely a structure in which people live. I love that the various phases of moving are highlighted: the emptiness when the first family moves out; the feeling that the new house is different, and presumably unsuitable, when Little Girl and her mother first move in; and the feeling of coziness when pictures are hung, plants appear, and boots and jackets find their place near the front door. 

Because Walter is unable to express his feelings except by the way he looks, Hsu’s illustrations have an especially important role to play. I love seeing how Walter’s appearance changes, from a happy home filled with a busy family, to an empty, abandoned-looking house, to a house filled with moving boxes, to a cozy home again. Note that the first family is multiracial, and the second is comprised of a single mother and daughter.

I think A Home Named Walter will appeal to families who are undergoing moves, and is an important book to share with all children as we think about what makes a dwelling a home.

A Note about Craft: 

Wallace tells Walter’s story from his point-of-view. It’s clear that the unnamed Little Girl and her mother are dealing with a difficult transition, too. But by focusing on the house’s feelings, I think Wallace helps readers who may be dealing with their own traumatic transitions to step back and realize that they aren’t alone, that others, including pets, family members, or friends, may be facing similar issues and experiencing similar emotions.

Because Walter is personified but is unable to move, Wallace and Hsu use a number of techniques to show his feelings: first by stating outright what he likes and dislikes; next by showing how his appearance changed when he “let his grass turn brown” and became a “cold, quiet, empty house”; and then by focusing on actions that a house could do, including blinds and an oven door that don’t open, a fireplace that doesn’t work, and pipes that burst.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – Pigeon & Cat

Posted on September 16, 2022 | 5 comments

After a brief pause that lasted longer than anticipated, I’m happy to be back and to share this recently-published Perfect Picture Book. Regular readers may notice that one of the themes is a recurrent one for me: home. Given that I’m about to embark on the third move of 2022, I guess neither I, nor you, should be surprised that I return to this theme so often.

Title: Pigeon & Cat

Written & Illustrated By: Edward Hemingway

Publisher/Date: Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Little Brown & Co/2022

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: friendship, creativity, home, community, compassion

Opening:

In an abandoned city lot there sits a cardboard box. Inside the box lives Cat.

Brief Synopsis: Cat and Pigeon become unlikely friends and roommates. When Pigeon flies away, Cat leaves the only home he has ever known, faces his fears, and sets off in search of his friend.

Links to Resources:

  • Cat uses materials that Pigeon finds to creatively decorate the city lot where they live. Use materials you find to decorate your home. What will you make?
  • Make your mark by participating in International Dot Day and creating your special dot;
  • Discover ways to help your community by weeding or planting in a community garden, cleaning up a park, contributing to a food or clothing drive, or visiting a senior facility;
  • Use only symbolic pictures to tell a story, as Pigeon does and as the ancient Egyptians did with Hieroglyphics.

Why I Like this Book:

The first things that drew me to this book were the old-time cartoony features of the main characters, the retro color palate combined with what looks to be an emoji on the book jacket, and the title – I wanted to know what a book with such an unlikely pair of characters was about.

At the outset, we meet Cat, who lives in a cardboard box, the one set off to the side of the first spread. It’s clear he’s alone, set in his ways, and wary of others. But as he says, the lot is “his home and his alone.” (emphasis in the original). But when Cat finds an egg and Pigeon hatches from it, Cat discovers a friend.

As their friendship grows, Pigeon gifts Cat discarded treasures, which spark Cat’s creativity. Readers see the lot begin to transform, even as we feel Cat’s solitary heart begin to embrace beauty and the joys of friendship.

But when Pigeon goes missing, Cat’s true transformation begins. He ventures out into the scary city to find his friend, only to discover that the city isn’t as scary and noisy and awful as he had imagined. What a wonderful message for kids of all ages who fear the unknown!

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will recommend that you compare the first and last spreads after you finish reading to discover the transformative power of friendship, creativity, and community.

Hemingway created the detailed illustrations with oil on board with hand-cut paper and Photoshop. The textured backdrops as well as the inclusion of emoji-like speech bubbles and artwork adds to the appeal of this poignant picture book that, I think, kids of all ages will love.

A Note about Craft:

Hemingway deftly combines the old with the new in Pigeon & Cat. In addition to a soft palette of yellows, oranges, and aquas that brought to mind the 1960s and 70s, Cat wears a bowler hat and suspenders. Pigeon, on the other hand, speaks in what appear to be emojis. The use of small, emoji-like pictures to translate Pigeon’s speech has the effect of making Pigeon seem youthful, which he is, and also caused at least this reader to pay closer attention to the detailed illustrations.

Hemingway also uses present tense, rather than the usual past tense found in picture books. I felt closer to the action because of this, similar to the effect of first-person point-of-view.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – The Gift Shop Bear

Posted on December 18, 2021 | 5 comments

For my final post of 2021 and as my gift to you, dear readers, I’m featuring a classic new picture book that I think is the Perfect Picture Book for this festive season. I hope you agree! Happy Holidays!

Title: The Gift Shop Bear

Written & Illustrated By: Phyllis Harris

Publisher/Date: WorthyKids (Hatchette Book Group)/2021

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: Christmas, teddy bear, home, friendship

Opening:

Nestled on the edge of town sat a little gift shop.

Brief Synopsis: Every Christmas season, Bear leaves his spot in the attic to decorate a gift shop and play with his best friend, Annie. But when the shop closes for good, Bear’s future seems uncertain.

Links to Resources:

Why I Like this Book:

Bear waits all year for Christmas, something that I think every kid, and adult, will understand. But it’s not just the sights, sounds, and smells of the season that appeal to Bear. Rather, for Bear, Christmas is the time of year when he decorates the gift shop where he lives, and, more importantly, spends together-time with his best friend, Annie. I love all of the activities that the pair undertake, and I can imagine kids mimicking them later with their own stuffed friends.

But like holiday celebrations, small gift shops don’t last forever. When Bear overhears that the shop is closing, he worries about where he’ll end up and whether he’ll ever see his friend Annie again. As this is a picture book, you know Bear will find a place to belong, but I won’t spoil the ending by telling you how or where he finds his “forever home”.

In this time when we’re all craving cozy reprieves from the craziness of this world, I think the nostalgic feel of this picture book will appeal to kids and their adults. Harris’ softly-hued illustrations complete this lovely package. The spreads featuring snowflakes especially helped me to get in the holiday spirit.

A Note about Craft:

The Gift Shop Bear is told from the point of view of Bear, a stuffed animal. This helps bring immediacy to Bear’s predicament and enables kids to empathize with him more easily. Although Bear never speaks, Harris shows readers what he sees, smells, hears, and thinks, bringing the reader along into the shop and other scenes.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – The Blue House

Posted on November 26, 2021 | 6 comments

I’m continuing with the theme of houses, and homes, and families this week, as my guess is those are themes on all of our minds this holiday season. I think I’ve found the Perfect Picture Book to do so.

Title: The Blue House

Written & Illustrated By: Phoebe Wahl

Publisher/Date: Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Children’s Books/2020

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: moving, home, single-parent household, urban renewal, overcoming loss

Opening:

Leo lived with his dad in an old blue house next to a tall fir tree.

Brief Synopsis: When Leo and his father are evicted from their beloved rental home, they are sad, but eventually find home in their new house.

Links to Resources:

  • What do you most like about your house? Draw a picture showing your favorite room or feature;
  • If you could change one thing about your home or room, what would it be? Why?
  • Leo and his father bake pie together. Try making this kid-friendly apple pie.

Why I Like this Book:

With its colorful, detailed illustrations and poignant story, The Blue House is a wonderful new picture book about moving and recreating home in a new location.

It’s clear at the outset that Leo and his father love living in the old blue house, despite the peeling paint, “leaks and creaks”, and the old heater that cuts out in the middle of winter. But sadly, they’re renters, and their landlord sells the house out from under them to make way for a bigger, newer, multi-family structure in its stead. With older children, this situation presents a wonderful opportunity to discuss the issues of urban renewal, the need for more multi-family units in many urban centers, and the pros and cons of tear-downs.

I love how Wahl shows readers that many activities can serve different purposes. Leo and his father bake a pie to warm up the old house and to help make the new house feel like home. They dance to keep warm, they “danced and stomped and raged” to feel “a little less mad” about the upcoming move, and they “danced and stomped and sang” in the new house. And they draw on the walls for different purposes, too, which I won’t share here as I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone.

For those who are in the midst of a move, just moved, or, like me, move often, I think Wahl’s description of the old house as “echoey and drafty like a hollow shell” will resonate. So, too, will her description of the new house as “empty, too. It didn’t feel like home”, at least not yet.

With its themes of making a house into a home, the bond between a loving parent and child, and overcoming loss, I think The Blue House is a perfect picture book for all families to savor and share.

A Note about Craft:

I love the thinly-veiled references to well-known books and music that Wahl, an author-illustrator, includes in the book. From The Hobbin to Talking Hens and Corn in the USA, I think adults will love spotting cultural references in the illustrations and sharing them with their little ones.

The Blue House features a father and son living on their own and dealing with the loss of their beloved rental home. No reference is made to a second parent and why he or she is not there. In my mind, this adds another layer to this heartfelt story, making me wonder whether that third family member may have resided in the blue house with Leo and his father.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – Home is a Window

Posted on November 19, 2021 | 9 comments

Have you ever wondered what makes a house a home? As someone who has moved more times than I can count, including several moves when our kids were young, the desire to create a home is never far from my mind. Especially as we head into a season filled with family holidays, feeling at home wherever you live is so important. Which is why I knew I had to read and review today’s Perfect Picture Book which addresses just that question.

Title: Home is a Window

Written By: Stephanie Parsley Ledyard

Illustrated By: Chris Sasaki

Publisher/Date: Neal Porter Books, Holiday House/2019

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: home, family, community, moving, comfort

Opening:

Home is a window, a doorway, a rug, a basket for your shoes.

Brief Synopsis: A young girl reflects on what’s special about her urban home, and when she moves, discovers special aspects of her new home.

Links to Resources:

  • Describe with words or pictures what you like best about the house or apartment where you live;
  • If you could change one thing about your home, what would it be? Why?
  • Have you ever wanted to design features of your own home? Check out these kid-friendly DIY design ideas;
  • Check out the Educator’s Guide for more ideas.

Why I Like this Book:

As the first lines of Home is a Window make clear, home can mean many things, as long as they contribute to feelings of comfort and safety. In the first section of this picture book, we see the many things that make this living space a home from the perspective of a young girl and her family. They include such universal pleasures as comfortable furniture, tasks done together, neighbor’s lights shining warmly into your bedroom, and a “table with something good and the people gathered there.” As the text makes clear, “Home is what feels the same each day”.

But what happens when you have to leave the comfort and safety of a familiar living arrangement and move someplace new? By bringing our traditions and the things we love with us, we can recreate home in a new place, as Home is a Window shows.

I love that Sasaki features the family coming together in the new house to share a meal. They might sit on a “patched-up quilt” on the floor and eat take-out food, but it’s clear that this family is well on their way to establishing a home in their new house.

With its low word count and earth-toned images of a loving mixed-raced family and their home, I think Home is a Window is a wonderful book to share with your littles, whether you’re contemplating a move, adapting to a new living situation, or wanting to share what makes your house or apartment a home.  

A Note about Craft:

I love the imagery and symbolism of the title, that home is a window – a means to look in to see the lives lived within its walls, and to look out to view the family’s interactions with their old and new communities.

Note the use of background colors: they become increasingly darker as moving day looms, and then lighten as the family creates a home in their new house.

A House, written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books/2021) would be a good book to pair with Home is a Window, especially with younger children.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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PPBF – Hardly Haunted

Posted on October 29, 2021 | 6 comments

I think regular readers know that I’m rather obsessed with themes of moving and what makes a house a home. So when I saw a review of today’s Perfect Picture Book on Susanna Hill’s blog a few weeks ago, you know that I immediately requested it from my local library and switched around the review schedule to feature it today. Happy Halloween!

Title: Hardly Haunted

Written & Illustrated By: Jessie Sima

Publisher/Date: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/2021

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: loneliness, home, Halloween, haunted

Opening:

There was a house on a hill, and that house was worried.

Brief Synopsis: An old house fears she is empty because she is haunted.

Links to Resources:

  • Have you ever heard strange noises at night like creaking, rapping on a window, or drip-drip-drips? What do you think causes those noises? Draw a picture of a scary or a friendly monster that might be the cause;
  • Bake and decorate your own haunted cookie house for Halloween;
  • Check out these downloadable activities.

Why I Like this Book:

Told from the point-of-view of a lonely old house that fears that she is haunted, Hardly Haunted is filled with not-too-scary scenes and loads of onomatopoeia that will have kids asking you to read it one more time.

I love that the house thinks that if she’s on her “very best behavior”, people won’t notice “how spooky” she is. Although there are things she can’t change, like the cobwebs and dust, the house determines to keep very still to avoid the creaks, squeaks, and groans that could frighten others. In many ways this reminded me of things kids, and even adults, do to minimize “bad” behaviors or traits to find affirmation and friendship.

But when things beyond her control cause new sounds, the house notices that these sounds could be fun, and that she, like a rambunctious kid, “liked being noisy.” And by embracing her uniqueness, she realizes that maybe a family would like to live in a haunted home after all.

Sima’s purply-blue-gray palette with splashes of orangy-yellow are perfect for this story, and her depiction of the outside of the house made me feel like I was looking at a face. The inclusion of a cat on almost every page completes this delightful package.

A Note about Craft:

A story about a family moving into a house filled with all sorts of spooky sounds would be interesting. But a story told from the point-of-view of that house is much more interesting and enables Sima to include an additional theme about being true to yourself.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

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Perfect Pairing Stays Home

Posted on March 31, 2020 | 3 comments

Two recent picture books explore the concept of home, which, as a serial mover, is a topic near and dear to my heart, especially now, as so many of us are spending most of our time at home.

Home in the Woods

Author & Illustrator: Eliza Wheeler

Publisher/Date: Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House/2019

Ages: 4-8

Themes: family, home, Great Depression, poverty

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

This picture book from Eliza Wheeler is based on her grandmother’s childhood and pays homage to a family’s fortitude as they discover the meaning of home.

Eliza Wheeler’s book tells the story of what happens when six-year-old Marvel, her seven siblings, and their mom must start all over again after their father has died. Deep in the woods of Wisconsin they find a tar-paper shack. It doesn’t seem like much of a home, but they soon start seeing what it could be. During their first year it’s a struggle to maintain the shack and make sure they have enough to eat. But each season also brings its own delights and blessings–and the children always find a way to have fun. Most importantly, the family finds immense joy in being together, surrounded by nature. And slowly, their little shack starts feeling like a true home–warm, bright, and filled up with love.

Read reviews at Miss Marple’s Musings and Leslie Leibhardt Goodman’s blog.

 

Home Is a Window

Author: Stephanie Parsley Ledyard

Illustrator: Chris Sasaki

Publisher/Date: Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House Publishing/2019

Ages: 4-7

Themes: home, family, moving

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A family learns what home really means, as they leave one beloved residence and make a new home in another.

Home can be many things—a window, a doorway, a rug…or a hug. At home, everything always feels the same: comfortable and safe.

But sometimes things change, and a home must be left behind.

Follow a family as they move out of their beloved, familiar house and learn that they can bring everything they love about their old home to the new one, because they still have each other. This heartfelt picture book by Stephanie Parsley Ledyard is richly illustrated by former Pixar animator Chris Sasaki.

Read a review at Kirkus Reviews.

I paired these books because they explore the concept of home. Based on the life of author-illustrator Wheeler’s grandmother, Home in the Woods follows a mother and her children who relocate to a shack in the woods when they lose their home during the Great Depression. In Home is a Window, a mixed-race family relocates from a beloved home in the city to a new house in the suburbs. Both books make clear that home is a place where one’s loving family lives & shares happy times together, and even, as in times like these, finds safety and security.

 

 

 

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