Influential artist Carson Ellis makes her solo picture-book debut with a whimsical tribute to the many possibilities of home.

Carson Ellis, an illustrator known for her work on her musician/author husband Colin Meloy's album covers and novels, makes her solo debut with this picture-book, which profiles a variety of homes, realistic and imaginary. I also did not care for the way some individuals / homes were depicted, and to me seemed to stereotype. Ellis reflects on all the possibilities of home through her lovely illustrations and fantastical imaginings of all that a home could be.I don't know what it was about it (something about the shape of the lines maybe) but I could honestly look at it all day; I want to frame it and put it on my wall.

Parents will notice details such as the “I love CM” tag amongst the graffiti drawings and the dove in every illustration. She uses her colours sparingly, browns, greys, greens and reds to great effect as we follow a little bird - a migrator free to travel anywhere - around the world (both real and imaginary) to places we may never visit. Others are uncomfortable stereotypes, and should be discussed at length with your child while reading together.The illustration style was wonderful, the only issue I have is that some of the scenes were not fully explained by the text, and might encourage children to believe broad, questionable stereotypes at an early age. For instance, there is a young dark skinned girl sitting in an apartment building that is covered in graffiti, the illustration for "Some homes are wigwams" have Indigenous people with bows and arrows, followed by a palace and an underground lair in which Arab, possible Muslim, characters are smoking as they stack gold coins and there is a woman reclining on a pile of gold --as if she is a possession. I'll always have thing for the muted palate/folksy style of The Decemberists' art for that warm feeling the band gave in me in the early 2000s. Despite the slight adult essence; children will love the large, colorful, and detailed watercolor paintings that cover the pages. Carson Ellis attempts to expand acceptance and preclude any judgments towards the classification of homes in, “Home”.

Is the pairing of an old sailing ship with people living in a wigwam an intentional reference to first contact between Europeans and Native Americans? I originally brought this book because of a recommendation by OwlCrate, I'm so glad I did as Home was absolute perfection. Carson has been awarded silver medals by the Society of Illustrators for her work on Wildwood Imperium and on Dillweed's Revenge by Florence Parry Heide. Discussion: I could spend hours looking at the pictures in this book, ferreting out half-hidden delightful details.

I found that while I appreciated the individual homes beings portrayed, somehow their juxtaposition just didn't work for me. Addendum: I see that Home has been criticized for some stereotyping, when it comes to who lives where - a young girl of color living in a graffiti-covered urban apartment building, for instance - as well as some poorly thought out juxtapositions. I would have treasured this beautiful book with its imaginative survey of houses around the planet and even beyond it!