Finding Home

When gray-furred, green-eyed rabbit Conejo’s house blows away in an autumn gale, he isn’t so much angry as dejected. After following “the trace of the wind,” he’s resting, exhausted, when his friend Lobo Lobito rides by on a scooter and offers help. Though they don’t find the missing house, the picnic they share cheers Conejo up. Newcomer Meza works in a striking, folk art–influenced style; plants and trees are flat geometric shapes in deeply saturated hues, and animal characters have masklike faces with big, expressive eyes. As the rabbit continues on, his friends’ offers of support and love sustain him: Perezoso the sloth gives Conejo a gift, and Buhíta the owl plays music and tells stories. After he leaves Buhíta, “Conejo sat with sadness for some time,” until a new breeze sends him in a new direction. An author’s note cites natural disasters in Puerto Rico and Mexico City as the story’s genesis for Meza’s reflection on homelessness and helping loved ones. Friends can’t fix everything when something bad happens, but generosity and warmth can often help until better times arrive. Ages 4–8. [em](Jan.) [/em]