Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Per an author's note, Sandu Budisan's deeply personal picture book pays tribute to her grandparents' home and garden in Romania. First-person prose describes "a country far away," where the narrator's grandparents build a house by hand while enduring hardships imposed by an oppressive government. Presented as photos in a scrapbook whose pages are turned by a pale-skinned child, gently shaded colored pencil and watercolor illustrations chronicle the simple joy that fills the home as the family grows. "Days passed, as they do," and soon the grandparents' offspring depart for a city. After the spare text alludes to political change, the tone shifts with the author's remembrances of carefree, flower-filled summers. It's a wistful telling that pinpoints the way place can house memories. Ages 4--8. (May)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A parent shares photos and memories that bring a family history to life. "My grandparents lived in a country far away, where no one could have their own land, horses, or cows." The narrator--who is pale-skinned but initially goes unseen--proceeds to describe Grandpa and Grandma's efforts to create a good life for themselves. They built a house, had children ("my mom and, soon after, my uncle"), and, with the help of their neighbors, rebounded after the house's roof cratered--"That's how my mother met my dad." The couple had a child--the narrator--and the city-dwelling youngster would summer with Grandpa and Grandma at their charming house. Toward book's end, an illustration shows the narrator sitting on a couch with a young child. While talking, the protagonist assembles a photo album; the idea is that Budisan's book's pages, which feature "photos" of the people from these recollections, are the album's pages. An author's note affirms what older readers will have suspected: This story was inspired by Budisan's grandparents, who lived in oppressive, Soviet-occupied Romania, where home became both refuge and a "symbol of persistence, a quiet act of defiance." Though this tenderhearted account, not much of which reflects a child's experience, may not speak to typical picture-book readers the way it will to their elders, Budisan's delicate and unstintingly detailed illustrations, rendered in colored pencil and watercolor, will certainly draw the eye. Alluring if adult-focused nostalgia.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
