HOMEGROWN HOUSE
by Janet S. Wong and illustrated by E.B. Lewis
A young girl frets about moving to a new house while yearning for a “homegrown” house like her grandmother’s. In contrast to Grandmom, who’s lived in the same house with its yellow kitchen, moss-green bedrooms, closets full of surprises and freezer packed with Popsicles and pizza for 40 years, the girl has lived in three different houses in eight years. Just when the splinters had worn down on her jungle gym, the fir trees had grown tall enough to hide her and she’s made five best friends, her parents decided to move again and again—and now again. So this time the girl borrows ideas from Grandmom’s old house to make the new house feel “homegrown.” As she narrates, the girl transitions from resentment and frustration to acceptance and optimism, gradually coming to terms with the latest move. Lewis’s luminous, realistic watercolors brilliantly utilize light and perspective to reveal her changing moods and her warm relationship with her grandmother as well as views of the houses in her life. Kids anticipating or recovering from moving should feel right at home. (Picture book. 4-8)