Outside, Inside

by Leuyen Pham (Author) Leuyen Pham (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

From Caldecott honoree LeUyen Pham, Outside, Inside is a moving picture book celebrating essential workers and the community coming together to face the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Something strange happened on an unremarkable day just before the season changed.

Everybody who was outside . . .

. . . went inside.

Outside, it was quieter, wilder, and different. Inside, we laughed, we cried, and we grew.

We remembered to protect the ones we love and love the ones who protect us.

While the world changed outside, we became stronger on the inside and believed that someday soon spring would come again.

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
This powerful ode to community delivers a timeless message of humility, perseverance, and hope.

Publishers Weekly

Slowly, deliberately, Pham (Love Is Powerful) explores what changed about the world when Covid-19 hit. A street full of adults, children, dog walkers, and grandparents empties in the turn of a page: "Everybody who was OUTSIDE.../ ...went INSIDE." A black cat with a judicious eye roams the story's pages, gathering its disparate events into one narrative thread. "Well, almost everyone." Patients lie in hospital beds, tended to by health workers swathed in PPE. Others wait at home: "Some of us worked a little, some of us worked a lot... and some of us couldn't work at all." In one spread, friends and neighbors stand in groups, some shown in faded blue instead of full color; they're the ones who didn't make it, or who might not have. "So why did we all go inside?" Pham asks. "Mostly," she explains, "because everyone knew it was the right thing to do." The word virus is not mentioned: it's not a story that presents the science behind the pandemic. Instead, the Caldecott Honoree offers a record of a period of difficulty, a testimony both to loss experienced and moments of unexpected good. A moving author's note is included. Ages 3-6. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Jan.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

ALA/Booklist

Reflecting shared experiences and hopes, here's a welcome picture book for our times.

Review quotes

"This optimistic book will help even very young children make sense of Covid-19." —Shelf Awareness, starred review

Selected praise for LeUyen Pham's work:

"This authentic, important book will mean a great deal to many kids." —School Library Journal, starred review, on the New York Times Bestseller Best Friends

"The stylized, comical creatures belie the depth of the message that comes through for even the youngest of readers: We are all in this together, and our differences strengthen our unity." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on Caldecott Honor winner Bear Came Along

"Wistful, affecting, and utterly charming." —Booklist, starred review, on the New York Times Bestseller Real Friends

"Seamlessly blends together a good story, lyrical language, and deft, supporting artwork." —Booklist, starred review on Fallingwater

"This sweet book can be enjoyed by children in a group setting or when shared one-on-one with someone special. " —School Library Journal on There's No Such Thing as Little

"Captured in warm and bright illustrations . . . this story about doing the right thing and the power of friendship is a strong choice for story hours and classroom read-alouds. " —Booklist on A Piece of Cake

"Erdos's unconventional brilliance shines through on every page." —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on The Boy Who Loved Math

"[Pham's illustrations] radiate a warmth as arresting as Ezra Jack Keats'." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on A Stick is an Excellent Thing

"[LeUyen Pham is] a master at conveying a full range of facial expressions and delightful comic details in her lively sketches." —School Library Journal on All The Things I Love About You

"With warmth and good humor, the ups and downs of sisterly love are perfectly conveyed." —School Library Journal on Big Sister, Little Sister

Leuyen Pham
LeUyen Pham has illustrated more than one hundred books for children, including the Caldecott Honor book Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris and the bestselling Princess in Black series by Shannon and Dean Hale. She is the cocreator, along with Shannon Hale, of the bestselling graphic memoirs Real Friends and Best Friends. Her own books include The Bear Who Wasn't There and Big Sister, Little Sister. A graduate of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, LeUyen lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781250798350
Lexile Measure
470
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Roaring Brook Press
Publication date
January 05, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV015020 - Juvenile Fiction | Health & Daily Living | Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries
JUV039220 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Values & Virtues
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV029030 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Disasters
Library of Congress categories
Epidemics
Social aspects
Quarantine
Service industries workers
ALSC Notable Children's Book
Selection 2022

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