Home Is a Door We Carry

Two long-journeying children, a pink-skinned youth in a red hooded jacket and a pale-skinned child with red-framed glasses, vividly resurrect left-behind places in this yearningly imagined picture book. In a rare moment of play, each describes the homes they miss, first as settings (“It’s a little red house with a garden around it.// My house is big, with many doors and many windows”) and then through the emotions they believe their homes are feeling (“My house must be very scared and lonely right now. It might even be hurt”). One youth wishes for the power to shrink their home enough to carry it; the other wishes their building “could stand up and come with me, on the journey. Blocky collage-style artwork brings a dreamlike feel to the children’s imaginings of caring for the residences and being tended to in return. Envisioning a resting place amid displacement, the conversational narrative gives the children agency in conjuring a respite, and a future, of abundance, safety, and care. Secondary characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Back matter offers context. Ages 5–8. (Apr.)