When she learns that her family will be moving from rural Saskatchewan to Toronto in the summer, a young girl simply states her anxiety: “This is where I live. I don’t know Toronto. I know here.” “Here” is the road she lives on, the forest behind her trailer home, and the sound of the wolves that howl at night. “Here” is the truck that delivers groceries, her teacher and the nine kids in her school, and “the squishy spot by the beaver dam where my little sister, Kathie, catches frogs and puts them in a bucket.” The details of place are quietly comforting even as they convey a sense of pending loss in Laurel Croza’s graceful narrative. The story concludes with the young narrator’s burst of childlike inspiration: she can preserve her memories by drawing a picture, taking them with her when she goes. Matt James’s soothing illustrations offer a sense of intimacy imbued with a little whimsy—a perfect accompaniment to this lyrical, heartfelt story. (Ages 5–8)

The little girl who narrates Croza’s memoir is worried about leaving the familiarity of her family’s mobile home at the edge of the forest for the big city of Toronto. To help her remember all that she loves and so that she can share it with new friends in the city, she draws a giant picture of everything she loves about Saskatchewan and carries it with her to the big city. Chil dren around the world will relate to the love for places they’ve left behind. 2010 Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (Picture Book). lvb

A simple but vibrantly illustrated story based on the author's own experiences of leaving behind a place one loves, learning to cope with change and having the courage to embrace the new experiences that life brings while cherishing the world that was familiar and precious.