Goodbye, Old House

August 15, 2021
A young child visits their old haunts for the last time with affection and greets their new home with enthusiasm. Tousle-headed and lively, the child runs through the landscape of their old home, naming all the activities they will never do again in this place: fishing in the river, running through the trees, petting the pony, swinging on the gate, eating at the table, dreaming by the fire. They stand at the open door, looking wistfully out at the familiar scenery, then bounce from room to room, saying goodbye to each one in turn. They even change the writing on their bedroom wall to the past tense: It now reads "Sam lived here." The process is reversed as they travel to their new home and explore all the activities in the new place: pushing open the gate, climbing a tree, petting a new cat, and saying "Hello" to the new rooms. They add an inscription on the bedroom wall: "Sam lives here now." The visual treatment is striking: Loose black-and-white cutout sketches of the child (whose skin is, therefore, paper-white) are collaged over soft, muted, almost abstract landscapes. The effect is pleasing, but there is little detail for a child to pore over. In spite of the paucity of detail, this would serve well to soothe a child anxious about a potentially traumatic experience. Moving house can be fun and not scary with the right attitude. (Picture book. 3-6)

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October 22, 2021
Preschool-Grade 2 Wild delves into the difficult transition of leaving the familiar to experience the unknown. The story begins with a child saying goodbye to their house by fishing in the river, swinging on the fence gate, and running through the trees one last time. What is nice is that after they say goodbye and visit their favorite places, it's time to say hello to a new house full of possibilities. Readers experience all the child's firsts alongside them as they greet the new rooms in the house and explore the property. This first-person narrative is beautifully depicted by James through contrasting illustrations that implement colorful acrylic gouache backgrounds upon which are overlaid crisp white elements containing black brush-and-ink drawings of the child. It is an exciting artistic effect that gives the world outside or through white doorways an Oz-like pop. Goodbye, Old House is a great book to help readers of any age maneuver around feelings connected to saying goodbye and leaving favorite things behind, as well as their trepidation and excitement over what will be.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2021
A child named Sam says a fond and very thorough goodbye to their house in the country ("This is the last time I'll fish in this river"; "This is the last time I'll swing on this gate"; "Goodbye, old house. Goodbye"), then reverses the process upon arrival at a new house in the city ("This is the first time I'll jump over these cracks"; "This is the first time I'll push open this gate"; "Hello, new house, hello"). The symmetry of Wild's text, with its mirror-imaged farewells and greetings, is effective and emotionally satisfying. Unlike most picture books about moving, this one has a distinctly upbeat vibe, thanks mainly to James's striking illustrations, "brush and ink drawings with acrylic gouache backgrounds combined digitally." Even as Sam says goodbye to beloved places and animals and activities and individual rooms of the old house, the mood conveyed in the illustrations is predominantly light and airy, with Sam's body language occasionally feeling almost Sendakian, a la A Hole Is to Dig. The child dances in doorways, smiles at a pony while giving a goodbye pat (and the pony appears to smile back), etc. With the protagonist portrayed in black-and-white against richly colored backgrounds, the viewer's eye always knows where to focus. Details are childlike and relatable. For instance, in the old bedroom we see poignant writing on the wall: "Sam lives lived here." In the new house we see Sam taking ownership, happily sprawled across the "comfy window seat" of the new bedroom and writing, "Sam lives here now." Martha V. Parravano

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2021
A child named Sam says a fond and very thorough goodbye to their house in the country ("This is the last time I'll fish in this river"; "This is the last time I'll swing on this gate"; "Goodbye, old house. Goodbye"), then reverses the process upon arrival at a new house in the city ("This is the first time I'll jump over these cracks"; "This is the first time I'll push open this gate"; "Hello, new house, hello"). The symmetry of Wild's text, with its mirror-imaged farewells and greetings, is effective and emotionally satisfying. Unlike most picture books about moving, this one has a distinctly upbeat vibe, thanks mainly to James's striking illustrations, "brush and ink drawings with acrylic gouache backgrounds combined digitally." Even as Sam says goodbye to beloved places and animals and activities and individual rooms of the old house, the mood conveyed in the illustrations is predominantly light and airy, with Sam's body language occasionally feeling almost Sendakian, a la A Hole Is to Dig. The child dances in doorways, smiles at a pony while giving a goodbye pat (and the pony appears to smile back), etc. With the protagonist portrayed in black-and-white against richly colored backgrounds, the viewer's eye always knows where to focus. Details are childlike and relatable. For instance, in the old bedroom we see poignant writing on the wall: "Sam lives/lived here." In the new house we see Sam taking ownership, happily sprawled across the "comfy window seat" of the new bedroom and writing, "Sam lives here now."

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)