OLD BLUE IS MY HOME: A Bittersweet Beauty

 

ABRAMS BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS, 
2025

Lita Judge is a talented and prolific author/illustrator who creates picture book experiences that resonate on every level. The storytelling is masterful, the illustrations are subtly soft but pack emotional and informational punch, the relationships (in this and other titles) are unquestionably authentic, and broader social issues scaffold the powerful blend of fiction she produces. OLD BLUE IS MY HOME is such a book, a very recent release depicting a timeless issue. 

(Check out THE WISDOM OF TREES, among other Lita Judge titles.)

A careful look at the jacket cover art will suggest that timely theme, a loving family who have adapted to a harsh reality. The title page gives visual evidence of their departure from a stationary, physical home, transferring their lives into the stability and safety of OLD BLUE. Throughout each  page turn readers will find narrative and illustration evidence not only of survival, but of resilience and love and the joyful pursuit of what many might doubt is a "good life". 

Each revelation or reflection within the narrative, told in first person voice of a child, provides more persuasive evidence that this family knows how to work, play, share, and learn within the restrictions of a life on not-so-fast wheels. Attending school and other interactions with a more traditional community can leave the child feeling like an outsider, "from nowhere", sad. Her perceptive parents are gently attuned to days like that and provide stability and comfort in the moment and beyond. They like their lives fully, until the time comes, and they all believe it will, when a forever home finds them. 

Please find OLD BLUE IS MY HOME, read it, share it.