Nancy Paulsen Books, August 2026
Reviews
Publisher’s Weekly
A child connects with their grandmother through imaginative play in this buoyant picture book debut from Venketraman (Safe Harbor), teaming up with Wong (A Cat Like That). When an unnamed young narrator travels to visit family in South Asia, Mom and Dad are happy to be home, but “the place I call home is far, far away.” Having last visited as a baby, the youth doesn’t recognize their grandparents: “I know they’re family, but they feel like strangers to me.” After the exhausted protagonist climbs into bed that night and the electricity goes out, Grandma arrives with a flashlight and pantomimes a shadow rabbit hopping against the wall. The child gives chase with a wolf-shaped shadow, and the pair, using few words, spend the rest of the power outage generating silhouettes: elephant and calf, swan and cygnet, dog and puppy. Bringing the animals the two create to vibrant life, finely detailed illustrations in golds, greens, and purples capture the deepening bond forged via a simple activity.
It’s a solidly comforting story that’s relatable for anyone building a new connection. Ages 3–7
School Library Journal, ⭐️ starred review
PreS-Gr 2–Capturing a familiar yet often underexplored childhood experience, this story follows a young girl visiting relatives who feel more like strangers than family. While her parents are thrilled to return home, she feels nervous and confused and is unsure how to connect across differences in language and culture. The story’s pivotal moment occurs during an unexpected power outage. In the darkness and heat, the grandmother introduces a playful solution of entertaining her granddaughter using hand-shadow animals brought to life with a flashlight. This simple act becomes transformative. It transcends language barriers and creates a shared space of imagination and joy, helping the granddaughter see her grandmother not as a stranger, but as a companion. By morning, the girl’s fear has transformed into curiosity and excitement, symbolized through her eagerness to try new foods and spend time with her grandparents. Many children navigating multicultural identities or long-distance family relationships will see themselves reflected here. This book stands out due to its quiet realism. There’s no dramatic conflict, just the subtle discomfort of unfamiliarity. The lack of character names makes the narrative feel broadly relatable. The detailed illustrations strongly suggest a journey from the United States to India, adding cultural richness without heavy exposition.
VERDICT This book offers both representation and reassurance to children with “faraway families” and is well suited for classrooms and libraries serving diverse communities.
Kirkus Review
A young child, initially excited about traveling, becomes understandably anxious about visiting extended family.
As the plane lands after a long trip across the ocean, Mom is thrilled to be “home again,” while Dad sighs a “home at last.” Their child, whose last visit to this country (unnamed in the text but cued as a South Asian nation) was as a baby, is nervously thinking, “The place I call home is far, far away.” At the airport, the “old couple” are unrecognizable: “I know they’re family, but they feel like strangers to me.” After an uncomfortable drive and meal, Grandma finally helps the exhausted grandchild to bed, but the fan and the nightlight both turn off following a power outage. Grandma soon appears with a flashlight and an entire menagerie of animals—cleverly created with hand shadows—that entertain and soothe the child until they can “understand each other perfectly.” In the morning, delicious cooking smells welcome a brand-new day—and outlook: “We aren’t just family, forced to be together. We’re friends too.” Wong transforms Venkatraman’s sweet debut picture book into a magnificent visual feast of inviting- spreads, notably enhanced with intricate details and textures. Her various points of view—zoomed-out crowded airport, distanced snapshot of the dense city, overview of the laden dinner table, final multigenerational close-up—underscore the stages of family reunion.
A heartwarming story—gorgeously, vibrantly illustrated—of family bonding. (Picture book. 3-7)