Home at Last
By Jan Carr,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fears faced openly when loving dads adopt older boy.
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What's the Story?
HOME AT LAST is the story of Lester, a boy who's weathered some very rough knocks. His parents died in a car crash, he lived with his grandma until she got sick, and then in an institution. But now he's adopted by two dads, Daddy Rich and Daddy Albert, who bring him to their urban home and fix up a nice room for him, though Lester's scared at night and creeps into their room for comfort. After repeated sleepless nights, Daddy Albert loses his temper. Lester expresses his strong fears, and the family pup presents a happy solution. He trots in to sleep on Lester's bed, providing the nightly comfort the boy needs.
Is It Any Good?
In this sensitive portrait of a loving and recognizably human family facing very real challenges, an older boy's adopted by two dads and has trouble trusting he won't be yanked from his new home. Author Vera Williams excels at joyously inclusive portraits of hardworking families. (Her classic A Chair for My Mother, still immensely popular, celebrated a girl and single mom struggling after a fire.) Chris Raschka illustrates Home at Last with much the same bright splashes of color that characterized William's own art.
What distinguishes Home at Last is the honest detail, the acknowledgement that there are no easy answers or quick fixes. It takes a year for the dads to adopt. Lester's neediness persists, trying the family, and Daddy Albert, who can be loving and supportive, has a fiery temper. But Williams is deft at the touching detail. When the dads make cocoa for Lester in the wee hours, and when Lester playfully rams his head into Daddy Rich's belly, we know these humans are trying their best to forge a family and are lucky to have found each other.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the fears in Home at Last. Do you have fears at night like Lester? How do you calm them?
Do your parents ever get angry? Are they sometimes angry, other times loving? Do you ever have conflicting feelings yourself?
How is this family similar to yours? Do you have pets and cousins? Do you like action figures and pancakes? How are they different?
Book Details
- Author: Vera B. Williams
- Illustrator: Chris Raschka
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Cats, Dogs, and Mice , Great Boy Role Models
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books
- Publication date: September 13, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 5 - 8
- Number of pages: 40
- Available on: Hardback
- Last updated: July 13, 2017
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