We're celebrating another day of bookish fun with Storybook Sunday! For those not up to speed on the post, I read a lot of great storybooks and thought, why not give them their own day in the sun. Hence, Storybook Sunday appears every now and then! Today's featured title is getting ready to celebrate it's book birthday, and tackles a topic that'll hit home for many, while enlightening others to a "now" world problem they just don't think about. Ladies and gents, today's ebook of choice...
Old Blue Is My Home
by
Lita Judge
9781419771521
Abrams Books for Young Readers
While this book almost brought me to tears, it's a reality for MOST people at some point in their lives. Old Blue is a van that this loving, and tight knit family call home. It gives them the freedom to travel, to spread out and experience the world, to focus on the things that really matter, practice minimalism without even realizing it...and while all of those are wonderful things, it also leaves room for insecurities, worry, and feelings of never quite fitting in. I get it; it makes them different. For me it wasn't the differences that caused pause, but the familiar feeling of uncertainty. I mean, most people live paycheck to paycheck without much of (or any) security blanket between them and the unknown. It's the way of the world at this point, but as adults, we learn to squelch that little voice whispering "what if" in order to live in the now...for kids, they shouldn't have to shoulder that worry. They shouldn't have to hide who they are, where they are from, or where they live. They should simply have to BE.
Although sadness was dancing in my eyes as I read, a smile was warming my heart as I saw the love bloom across the pages. The family may have been in what many would view as hard times, but they made the best of things, and celebrated each other. If someone had a bad day, they refocused their energy on bringing them joy. If it was raining outside, they shared their space until the sun rose again. If the sun was bright in the sky, they enjoyed the great outdoors and the bounty of space and beauty that surrounded them. They had goals for a more anchored future, but they looked happily towards reaching it together. It's an interesting way to address a topic that can be scary, while normalizing something that's been seen as taboo in the past. At book's end, the author shares their own history that's reflected in the pages, and offers some further information on the subject matter to help educate and inspire.
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About the author...
Lita Judge is the award-winning author-illustrator of many children’s books, including Dogs: A History of Our Best Friends, The Wisdom of Trees, Born in the Wild, Flight School, Red Sled, and her illustrated young adult novel, Mary’s Monster, as well as the illustrator of Forty Winks: A Bedtime Adventure, written by Kelly DiPucchio. She lives with her husband, three cats, and a parrot in New Hampshire.
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Special thanks to Tayla at Abrams for the ecopy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title celebrates its BOOK BIRTHDAY April 8th, 2025, so mark your calendar, or preorder your copy today!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
