Home Is Where the Birds Sing

by Cynthia Rylant (Author) Katie Harnett (Illustrator)

Home Is Where the Birds Sing
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

A beautiful and poignant meditation on what makes a home from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant.

There are so many things, both big and small, that make a place feel like home. Home is where you might have a special nickname or a special toy. It's where you might have a snack or a nap or a bath--or all three! Whether home is a city apartment or a country cottage, it's a place you want to return to again and again. Celebrate all kinds of homes--and all kinds of families--in this cozy, lushly illustrated ode to the universal feeling of being at home.

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Publishers Weekly

What makes a place a home? As Rylant (We Give Thanks) and Harnett (Monty and the Poodles) take readers through differing dwellings, highly specific particulars blend with a sense of reverie, evoking feelings of connection and belonging. In one spread, lines of plainspoken poetry read, "Home is where someone calls you 'sweetie' or 'dear' or a dozen other names for love." Lovingly detailed gouache and colored pencil vignettes, meanwhile, place readers in a light-filled kitchen, where something is cooking in a big orange pot, goodies sit on a side table, and an intergenerational duo beam at one another. A few pages later, attending a lullaby-like litany, the illustrations survey a couple of beloved objects (a globe, a stuffed bear) and a cozy bedroom: "Home is where everything waits for you// waits for you." Throughout, images show families and friend groups of varying abilities, ages, body types, and skin tones engaging in daily rituals. Sensations, people, and things constitute a sense of place, one that is all the more profound, this creative pair hints, when that place is home--"where your own story starts." Ages up to 8. (May)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant is the author of more than 100 books for young people, including the beloved Henry and Mudge, Annie and Snowball, Brownie & Pearl, Motor Mouse, and Mr. Putter & Tabby series. Her novel Missing May received the Newbery Medal. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Lisa Congdon is an author, illustrator, and fine artist. Her books include Round by Jennifer Ward and, for adults, her own Whatever You Are, Be a Good One; Art, Inc.; Fortune Favors the Brave; and The Joy of Swimming. She lives in Portland, Oregon. You can see more of her work at LisaCongdon.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781534449572
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Beach Lane Books
Publication date
May 17, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002040 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Birds
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Home
Belonging (Social psychology)

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