Reading Time: 1 Min.
As a young reader, I loved any book in which the characters created a home for themselves. The Boxcar Children moved into their boxcar, the kids in The Egypt Game created their own little world behind an antique shop, and I swooned. I can’t have been the only one, either, because so many great children’s books are preoccupied with the concept of home: finding it, leaving it, keeping it, rebuilding it after it’s been lost. Now that I’m an adult, this preoccupation makes sense to me. Even the very youngest readers understand that a search for home is a search for love, safety, and community—the fundamental needs we all have, regardless of age or circumstance. In each of the new children’s books that delighted me this month, home looks a little different. For some characters, it’s a magical library, a house full of fun-loving witches, or a bed and breakfast with a mind of its own. For others, it’s a country they’ve had to leave behind, a dream just out of reach, or a place to which they’re determined to return. * Up High – Hunt, Matt Matt Hunt, Up High (Nosy Crow, May 7) (recommended for ages 2-5) As far as I know, author-illustrator Matt Hunt is a grown-up. Fortunately for all of us, though, he’s overcome this obstacle to remind us what it’s like to observe the world from the very best perch of all: atop a parent’s shoulders. In this quietly charming picture book, a young child and his dad venture out into their busy city. When the cars and bustle feel too overwhelming, Dad lifts his little one up high , and the art’s perspective shifts to show us all the interesting things you can see from a spot like that (like Dad’s hair, excellent for pulling!). But there’s plenty of joy to be found in being small, too, a message Up High delivers with just the right amount of unpreachy sweetness. Insha’allah, No, Maybe So – Roumani, Rhonda Rhonda Roumani and Nadia Roumani, Insha’Allah, No, Maybe So ( illustrated by Olivia Aserr) (Holiday House, […]
Click here to view original page at Finding a Home in Stories: 10 New Children’s Books to Read in May
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Reading Time: 1 Min. Fantasy and science fiction readers are naturally open to the unexpected, and they like new takes
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