Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Poetic meditation on what makes a place feel like home.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
A series of lyrical reflections describe what makes kids feel a sense of HOME. In all kinds of family settings, from a toddler hearing a bedtime story on Mom's lap to a boy falling asleep in his dad's truck cab, to a girl watching her grandpa fish off his houseboat, to kids enjoying an outdoor barbecue, readers see kids feeling at home in their daily lives. The sounds of home are as key to that feeling as the sense of place, whether those sounds are early-morning jackhammers in a busy city or "the roar of the tide retreating over rocks" at the beach. The book also touches on the grief of losing a home, whether from a natural disaster like a hurricane or by moving away from the only house you've ever known.
Is It Any Good?
This emotional meditation on what home means to kids in various families is powerful and thought-provoking. Author Matt de la Peña identifies precise sounds that signal the feeling of home, starting with "Home is a tired lullaby and a late-night traffic that mumbles in through a crack in your curtain." Loren Long matches colorful, emotional images to de la Peña's sounds and ideas. Home has a melancholy tone at times, but it would make a great conversation starter to help kids think about the concept of home, what it means to them, and what elements give them that feeling.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Home portrays different people's ideas of home. What do you think of when you think of home? What do you picture in your mind? Who's there with you?
Draw a picture of something that reminds you of home. What's going on inside? What do you hear outside?
No matter what changes and challenges the people in Home face, they stick together and make it through. Why is perseverance an important character strength?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Loren Long
- Genre : Picture Book
- Character Strengths : Empathy , Gratitude , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : March 11, 2025
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
- Number of pages : 48
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : April 28, 2025
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