Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in order to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Norton Young Readers to bring you this post.
What makes a home? What is your home? I remember taking a diversity awareness class when I was a pretty new teacher and one of the assignments was to write a paper about who you were and what made you that person. When we shared them, it was really interesting to hear the different stories and different backgrounds each of us had. The group of teachers was unfortunately mostly white but each of us had so many different things that mattered to us in our upbringing and life to create the person we each became. It is a project I would love to do again now that I have a family of my own and am on the other side of my career. Maybe someday I will. The book we are sharing today however reminded me of that assignment. It is A Forest, A Family, A Harbor, A Home by Nikki McClure. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. At the end of this post there is a giveaway!
About the Book:
A Forest, A Family, A Harbor, A Home Created by Nikki McClureAges: 4-8 | 48 Pages | Publisher: Norton Young Readers (2026) | ISBN-13: 978-1324125105
Publisher's Book Summary: Gorgeously handcrafted, rooted in the nature and landscape of the Northwest, and threaded with the experience of child- and parenthood, A Forest, A Family, A Harbor, A Home is a rich and deeply felt meditation on the intimacy of home, the wonder of the world, and the magic of discovery.
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org | Norton
About the Author:
Nikki McClure is a papercut artist and children's book creator based in Olympia, Washington. She has illustrated numerous books, including the Washington State Book Awards Finalist Old Wood Boat and Rachel Carson's About the Sky, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book.
Website | Instagram
From Me:
There is a place...
Where is your place? Do you want to wake to birdsong? Do you want to see the storm end and better weather begin? Your place is where people like and love you. It is where you can enjoy sitting in silence or noise. It is a place where you can be yourself. This beautiful book brings natural surroundings into the home. It can be a forest or a harbor. You leave but you return and when you do there is love. It is home.
The pictures in this book are gorgeous! It gives a feel of nature and being old. It reminds me of picture books of my childhood. The homes described in the book may not be like your home, but they remind us how precious nature is and how we need to explore it for our wellbeing. One home is a cabin in the woods where there are animals and foraging for food. One home is a harbor with adventures out in a boat including times of storms. Each person returns to their home where there is love and care. It also talks about leaving home to explore the world and always having it to come back to. It makes me really think about what the word home means. It is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. My mother moved to a different assisted living place over the summer, and it is blocks away from my childhood home. Driving there and around there brought back so many memories of home. Steve and I are also at the point of life where we are talking about retirement and downsizing. So, what is home has been on my mind. This book brought it all to the forefront too.
The book has simple words that may or may not describe your home or a place you visit (like a vacation home). The illustrations are simple in color but amazing and give their own feelings to the story. It creates so many images of home and how it may be people and a feeling as well as a place. This book is perfect for anyone to read and talk about what home means to them. And for older kids, how does your home affect your life and who you are? It would be a wonderful read at home and discuss as a family but also in the classroom to hear about different home settings. It is just a beautiful book with some basic messages that everyone should think about and feel.
Giveaway:
Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win a hardcover copy of A Forest, A Family, A Harbor, A Home by Nikki McClure. Good luck!!
