You Are Home

Starred review from March 25, 2019
Splendid landscapes by Turk (Heartbeat) celebrate America’s national parks. In free verse that enumerates their natural riches, he pays homage to a number of parks (labeled in corresponding spreads) with the incantatory refrain of the title: “to the herds of elk/ trumpeting the arrival of fall;/ to the forests of twinkling aspen/ turned golden by the shortening days./ you are home.” The title phrase applies to park visitors, too: “to the child in the city,/ surrounded by windows,/ noise, and crowds... you are home.” In the text—and more fully in an author’s note—Turk acknowledges that the parks’ establishment sometimes meant the removal of their indigenous inhabitants: “to the child whose ancestors/ lived on these lands before the stars and stripes/ took them as their own./ you are still home.” In consistently powerful spreads, the artist highlights the play of sun and shadow over mountains and canyons with fiery oranges, deep rusts and cobalts, and velvety black. There are 58 U.S. national parks, and 22 appear here, from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Biscayne Bay. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting testament to their grandeur. Ages 4–8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc.

Starred review from May 1, 2019
From Acadia in the east to Olympic in the west, Turk presents an artistic and inclusive ode to America's national parks. Readers who pick up this 12-inch-square book will be immersed in nature and art even before they open it, as they share an adult and child's view of mountains, flowers, stream, and sky. Much like the parks they celebrate, each majestic spread in this book holds wonders for the eye to explore, with one or occasionally two parks represented per spread. Well-known and lesser-known parks alike are featured, whetting readers' appetites to learn more and explore. From close-up views of animals--pronghorn amid prairie grasses, bison in a snowy oasis, a bobcat in the dark--to children and their families--city children and farm children, immigrants and Indigenous, all joyously diverse--the text repeats the soothing refrain to all: "you are home." The art is created using pastel on black paper, which produces a deep feeling of purpose behind each stroke and swath of color. The art could stand alone, but the words manage to add even more weight, pinpointing the feeling familiar to many nature lovers: "a sense of belonging, / sung by the streams, / from valleys to peaks, / over thousands of miles, / through millions of hearts." Perusing this book induces a longing to go outside and travel but also to create art of one's own. Masterful. (Picture book. 5-adult)

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June 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 3-Turk takes readers on a visual journey through 25 national parks with the effect of perusing a travelogue. Each landscape spread features a different park subtly named in the bottom corner that sometimes includes wildlife or human visitors. The illustrations, rendered in pastel on black paper are, with a few notable exceptions (the Arches, Everglades, and Biscayne), predominantly dark. Touches of yellows, blues, and greens lighten most pages, but the cumulative effect is one of darkness. Endpapers depict a sunrise and a starry night sky; most pages in between have a dawn, dusk or nighttime feel. Back matter includes a U.S. map with all 58 National Parks indicated, author notes, and further information about the featured parks and animals. Unfortunately, the print on the "More About" page is so small only the hardiest of young readers might believe it was meant for them. The text is indeed a classic ode with the refrain, "you are home." Turk first addresses the creatures you might encounter in the parks, turns his attention to "the child in the city," "the child on the farm," and then immigrants and "ancestors," touching upon the irony that many of these lands were home to Native Americans before the "stars and stripes took them as their own," only to preserve the land as "a place for all." VERDICT Rather than sparking young readers' interest in our National Parks, this earnest but abstract picture book will be most appreciated by those who are already familiar with them.-Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, MA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2019
Preschool-G *Starred Review* This love letter to America's national treasures is an important, informative invitation to experience and explore. Author-illustrator Turk (Heartbeat, 2018) offers spreads of well-known parks (Yosemite, Yellow Stone, Mesa Verde) and some lesser-known parks (Biscayne Bay, Olympic, Big Bend). Animals such as bison, bobcat, chipmunk, and elk, as well as physical features of the land (glaciers, mountains, rivers, volcanoes) are pictured. Lyrical free verse tells readers that the national parks are preserved for everyone, and when we visit them, we are home. Home, Turk says, is a memory / of footsteps and wingbeats, / of sunrise and sunset . . . / a memory carried / through wind and rain, / echoing in canyons / carved way down deep / in the heart of the earth / and in our hearts alike. Margin-to-margin illustrations use pastels on black paper to create appealing views of select national parks; the name of the park featured on those pages is printed in the lower corner. Back matter includes an author's note, a map of all the national parks in the U.S., and a listing of the 27 featured in the book. Also included is a brief history of the national park system and a call to protect the parks.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)