Have you ever been homesick for your home, family, a friend or place? Mostly likely you answered yes. However, have you ever thought that maybe your home is homesick for you when you go away? In Audrey Vernick and Liza Garton’s picture book (due August 2026) Homesick, that is what happens. The child of the story goes off to their grandparents home. The house became sad, missing its child and the story goes through the emotions. We even see how the parents mention how things are different, and eventually we see how the child is dealing with things.
The poeticness of the story goes deeper, but you can take things at face value as well due to the layers. The reader brings to it their own experiences and thoughts. The old fashioned look and sound to the text allows it to feel like a classic, yet still has a modern tone. This allows the reader to be cozy and have a familiar feeling, while dealing with a common childhood theme. It also gives humor to things by allowing the child to think how inanimate objects have feelings as well.
The illustrations by Daniel Miyares are companion pieces to the overall story. They are both rich and soft, with a mix of old fashioned and new elements. Things mesh nicely with each other. Overall, it is an anytime book, and would probably work best for one-on-one reading. The ages would range depending on the needs of the child, but should not be something you read before the feelings occur.
