BEFORE I LIVED HERE: A Journey Through Time

 Earth has an incredibly long history prior to any form of life emerging. Then, as anyone who ever scanned a planetary timeline knows, life on Earth preceded human arrival and spans the majority of a timeline of evolution, with humans having a comparative sliver as a  "last minute" arrival in comparison to all other life forms. That's an intriguing and somewhat academic view of our planet's history. If nothing else, it's a view that can leave us (me) feeling inconsequential and relatively "speck-like" in the big picture of the world.

The numbers and spans of time and magnitude of planetary change are overwhelming. That's why this picture book take on Earth's evolutionary stages feels both kid friendly and academically valuable. The "story" is anchored in a seemingly specific place, through the eyes and voice of a child, and with sufficient familiarity to other concepts to make the planetary  journey through time digestible. 

In BEFORE I LIVED HERE,  written by Stacy S. Jensen and illustrated by Victo Ngai, perspective shifts from past-to-present. Instead, a young first-person narrator shares their perspective through a second story window. With vibrant illustrations, readers come along to view a landscape of mountains, and the neighborhood of homes/community in the foreground, just outside the narrator's window. 

That perspective shift is captured in a single line:

"But my house was not always there."

NEAL PORTER BOOKS, Holiday House
2025

Successive pages, text and images offer views of the construction of that neighborhood, a surreal view of the planning and developing that preceded construction of modern times. Throughout all of these, the horizon of a mountain range. Each page turn moves the perspective back in time by centuries and more, revealing pioneers and the displaced original residents whose land had been stolen. Another turn depicts those Native folks living full community lives. Another turn takes us to (you guessed it) earlier dinosaur residents of that very territory. Throughout these page turns, the horizon of mountain range persists, even as the land is submerged in underwater in prior epochs.

 Only then, about a billion years BEFORE I LIVED HERE, that mountain range burst from the earth's crust, shaping the land around it. Other than on the prehistoric spreads, a squirrel graces some corner of the spreads, tying the place and continuity to the PLACE where this particular story is being unearthed from its past. 

The closing is equally succinct and effective, 

"Now, I see those mountains 

from my house."

In that penultimate spread, the barefoot narrator in modern clothing looks outward through a free-standing doorway along with a suspended window. Both of those openings to the land frame the current landscape of people and community. The expanse surrounding these frames are an accumulation line images in scratched into a black background base, rendered as rainbow-colored reminders of the prior pages. That superimposed contemporary view on foregrounded historic references offers a remarkable sense of the change and permanence in which we live on this planet. One final spread becomes a searchable expanse of the passages of time that have been described. 

Back matter extends the dramatically portrayed Earth-history with accessible details and brief descriptors  for each spread. This is a magical interpretation of very well-researched and documented nonfiction content. I genuinely believe that this highly scientific depiction of complex  information could be enjoyed by very young audiences, because the illustrations and language are told in reverse time, anchoring ideas in the local and familiar aspects of a neighborhood. It also offers older audiences an identifiable timeline and pattern of regression that invites anyone, anywhere, to look around and wonder, question, read, and research.

Concepts of permanence and change are challenging at early developmental levels, but this is a terrific way to share those concepts and other abstract relationships and expanses of time that will intrigue readers of many ages.

Abuelo Shares HOW TO REACH THE MOON!

 The genuine and uniquely deep love and connection of a child and their grandparent is undeniable. Many wonderful picture books center this special relationship, making it a major challenge for new stories with this framework to break through. To editors, to buyers, to readers. 

AMAZON CROSSING KIDS, 2022

HOW TO REACH THE MOON is written by Nicolás Schuff and illustrated by Ana Sender, with translation by Lawrence Shimel. It was successful in its original Spanish release, and now I've found it in English translation. I hope this commentary will help it find even more admirers. It goes without saying that picture books rely on partnerships between the author and illustrator, with advice and curation through the publisher's team of editors and art directors. In this case the translator was trusted with the original text that is both robust and exquisitely tender. 

During summer, Emilio travels by train to spend his vacation in the forest with his abuelo. In evocative illustrations perfectly paired with bright and colorful text, readers will find themselves joining Emilio at their rustic outdoor table, listening to Abuelo's imaginative stories, and dealing with questions about the moon. 

On one full moon night, Abuelo wakes Emilio to hike through the forest to meet the moon. Imaginative questions and descriptions lead them deeper until they reach a steep bluff at the edge of the forest. Could this be a secret path to the moon?

The answer to that question and what follows are moments I won't spoil by discussing them in these comments, other than to say that the magic is in the shared experiences, the relationship, and the possibilities that Emilio explores. 

Both the text/language and the glowingly dense art invite sensory engagement with these special two folks and their habitat, while the seemingly invisible work of the translator makes it feel as if the original language was English, in the best possible way. 

View this picture book is a gentle ode to multi-generational love and adventure, to nature's atmospheric impact on our hearts and minds, to the value of imagination to prepare us for the astonishing offerings of our very real world. This serves as a strong and memorable fictional story, but also as a bedtime story, a celebration of family, a virtual journey into the depths of nature, and more. That's a lot of promise, but this picture book delivers, with every word and spread. 

BEES and the Dog who Saved Them!

 

SLEEPING BEAR PRESS, 2025

Meet Mack, a rescue dog who is a true BEE hero (now retired). THE DOG WHO SAVED BEES is written by Stephanie Gibeault and illustrated by David Hohn. I've centered the cover, larger than usual, because that's exactly the attitude the cover invites. This nonfiction picture book celebrates MACK, and the illustrations capture MACK's personality wonderfully. You may also note the JUNIOR LITERARY GUILD designation as well as the stacks of beehives. 

There's a human component to Mack's story that should to be overlooked, even though she is subtly backgrounded on the cover. That's Cybil, the "Chief Apiary Inspector" for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Why is she a part of the story? She was the account's "instigating factor" when she realizes that some of the bees who are transported back and forth across our nation had been infect with "foul brood" a highly contagious and untreatable bee disease. Unless infected hives could be identified and destroyed, they would contaminate others, threatening our national pollination and harvests of almonds, apples, strawberries, and many more food crops. 

Humans can identify infected hives by visual inspection of each hive, but it wasn't possible to do in time to release them for cross continental transport. But those infected hives release a specific stink, one that a dog might recognize and signal, similar to the way dogs can be trained to identify drugs and other contraband. 

That explanation is simplified and visualized in the opening pages, after which Cybil decides she might seek out a dog to train to detect the scent, something never tried before. Special "seek" dogs need to be very high energy and motivated enough to ignore all else when put to work. But those same traits can make dogs poor candidates as pets. Cybil tried (against advice) to work with Mack, a confined dog who was living a miserably boring life and was seen to be rowdy and disruptive. Cybil gave Mack a chance.

Training is described and shown in highly relatable text and images. When Cybils tried some innovative approaches to get her distractible trainee to focus, their work as a team took off. Once Mack could succeed at the seek/signal work with "foulbrood" scent, the real tests would follow. If anyone has ever been stung by a bee, you'll understand the challenge. Mack's work required sniffing closely at hive after hive, and that alone was worrying. When Mack was eventually stung, he resisted returning to work. 

The unfolding story has the appeal of an irresistible dog, the inspiration of an innovative and clever scientist, the stakes of the very food on our tables, and heartwarming visual storytelling. Back matter includes more about Mack, including photos and resources to verify the facts behind this magical tale. 

Many young audiences are ambivalent about bees, recognizing their value in ecosystems, appreciating their fuzzy buzzing and flight, but fearing their sting. The illustrator note even says he recalls a bee sting from childhood but values the variety of plant-based foods on his plate. The story evokes empathy for Mack, highly motivated to his task but reluctant to be hurt again. it will model the steps to overcome fear and gain confidence, and it should inspire many questions and further readings about bees "on the road", about their role in the full cycle of pollination-to-plate.

Summer is certainly prime time for reading about bees, but as impressive as those insects are, they rely on humans (and scent-seeking dogs) to sustain the health of the hive. Mack's story is central but adds enough elements to make agri-business information very kid-friendly, serving as a portal to further nonfiction reading. Mack, the dog, is memorable and so is this nonfiction picture book. Highly recommended.

The Case for Resistance: Be A Flea... for Justice!

CHARLESBRIDGE, 2025

The call-to-action phrase, "a flea for justice", is a classic among civil rights fighters. Its origin story is revealed within the biography of Marian Wright Edelman is related in early spreads in A FLEA FOR JUSTICE: Marian Wright Adelman Stand Up For Justice, written by Valerie Bolling and illustrated by TeMika Grooms. It's worth reading for that alone, but it brings much more to the table.

Edelman's life story depicts an individual whose personal conviction, lived experiences, and community engagement led her to step up and speak up, despite enormous risk to her own life and the ones she loved and supported. The account launches with an incident in which four-year-old Marian takes a drink at a water fountain without knowing that it was labeled WHITES ONLY. The inconceivable "rule" that could be life threatening if ignored was so thoroughly unjust and intolerable to her that it shaped her path in life. And then path she followed changed the lives of countless others.

This new biography reveals a period in American history that, for me, is memory. But for so many younger folks this Civil Rights era can feel like "the distant past". What this account offers is Edelman's lifelong call to others, especially young folks, to recognize that even the tiniest voices and choices can cause harmful practices that add to an "itch" in those causing harm, to act. To not be complacent.

Marian was inspired by the life of Sojourner Truth, the originator of the "FLEA FOR JUSTICE" phrase. She was also aware of the life-and-death impact of segregation, including the death of young friend who died of infection when hospitals refused to treat Black families. That is only one of many examples of the forces driving Edelmann to change the unjust laws, securing her a place of leadership in a movement that changed society, at least on the books. 

Sadly, not all hearts have changed to assure fairness and justice, and the work is still needed.

This life account is compellingly told and thoroughly researched. Back matter includes a life-time-line that showcases personal experiences and global awards. A more detailed passage in back matter adds to her story, while the illustrations and readable text present a profile accessible for even the very young. 

Don't wait for Black History Month, or Women's History Month. Edelmann's story will resonate with readers of every background, achieving what she set out to to do: to empower even the youngest among us with a sense of agency and strength, an assurance that noticing and acting are choices and they lead to change. Don't miss this one.