This Is Our House

May 27, 2013
A small girl with twin braids narrates her family’s history with pride, starting with when her grandparents arrived at a brick rowhouse on a leafy street, coming from “far away with just two suitcases in hand.” Since then, three generations have marked the seasons and personal milestones outside the house’s front door (“This is the street where I learned to walk, just like my mom,” says the girl), found snug shelter within its walls (“This is the room where they all slept together on cold winter nights”), and consumed homemade soup in its kitchen. Told in sunny, openhearted watercolor vignettes and snapshotlike framed images, Yum’s (Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten!) story of how a house became a longtime home may feel exotic to readers whose own family histories are comparatively transient. But its essence will ring true, regardless: we’re connected not just by genes and bloodlines, but also by the places we share. An inviting personal history that would pair well with Jacqueline Woodson’s similarly themed This Is the Rope, also out this summer. Ages 3–8. Agent: Sean McCarthy, Sheldon Fogelman Agency.

Starred review from July 1, 2013
An ode to a place called home, related by a young girl describing photos of a brick building and the memories her family made there through three generations. With the feeling of a photo album, the book leads readers through the story of a simple house. "This is the house / where my grandparents arrived from far away / with just two suitcases in hand." On the left side of the page, above the text, is a painted "photograph" of an unassuming building--there's no color, a bare tree, no life to be seen. On the facing page, the full-bleed illustration shows a man and a woman, holding hands, stepping up to the building with two suitcases in hand. Reflective and quiet, the pages progress with the staged photographs of this young couple's life displayed on the left, while the right side reveals more. A baby is born and learns to walk, children pose on the stairs before school, a child leaves for college. When the perspective shifts to the narrator's family, the pattern of the double-page spreads reverses itself in a lovely shift. The contrast between the simplicity of the text ("This is the street / where I learned to walk, / just like my mom") and the richness of life revealed in the watercolor illustrations shows how the building becomes alive with the history of the young girl's family. A lovely, unassuming paean to place and belonging. (Picture book. 3-8)

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July 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 2-A girl describes her family history as it relates to her home: "This is the house where my grandparents arrived from far away....These are the front steps where my mom and her brothers played on warm summer days....This is the street where I learned to walk, just like my mom." The snapshot quality of each statement is emphasized in the illustrations: each spread includes an informal slice-of-life scene as well as a framed picture of the relatives during that time. The cheerful pictures show a loving family enjoying life together, while seasonal changes and aging characters help show the passage of time. This is a story about nothing and about everything. There is no real plot or narrative, but it encompasses the lives of three generations. The intergenerational household may not be familiar to many modern American kids, but the idea of close family ties and treasured memories and places is universal. This quiet book could be an effective conversation starter about personal history at home or in the classroom.-Heidi Estrin, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013
Preschool-G Yum's latest resembles a photo album and follows a little girl offering up a historical tour of the house she shares with her parents, grandparents, and cat. She starts at the beginning, when her mother's parents arrived from far away with just two suitcases in hand. On one side of the spread (here and throughout the book) is a watercolor framed like a photograph; the other side reveals a more complete view from the same time period. The story continues, inside and in front of the two-story attached home, through her mother's childhood, departure for college, and return with the boyfriend who would be my father. Yum depicts the girl's grandparents as warm and welcoming, even as nervous new parents, and the girl's parents convey the same loving concern for their child. Some of the framed images pop up again on walls in later pages, suggesting how the young narrator learned the history she's relaying. Even before the baby sibling is introduced on the last spread, this is a sweet tribute to continuity and togetherness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)