This Is Our House
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. Preschool-Grade 2. --Abby Nolan