From There to Here

by Laurel Croza and Matt James

In a stellar follow-up to the quiet picture book I Know Here (Groundwood,... read more

In a stellar follow-up to the quiet picture book I Know Here (Groundwood, 2010), the same young narrator describes the many ways the “there” of her former home in rural Saskatchewan is different from the “here” of her new life in Toronto. At first she is wistful, and it’s clear which place she prefers. “There. A tarp of twinkle, twinkle little stars hung high above our trailers. And on some nights, a special show when aurora borealis shimmered in the sky, swirling and twirling, dancing just for us. Here. No stars, no northern lights. The street lamps in a straight row — standing at attention — glaring down the dark.” When she finally describes a knock at the door “here” her tone begins to change. It’s “Anne, who lives kitty-corner to me.” Both girls are eight, almost nine. There it was “Only me, my age, on my road.” “Here” is now two girls, friends, riding their bikes in the city. “The Toronto air rushes to greet me, tugging up the corners of my mouth. Anne is smiling, too.” (Ages 5–9)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2015

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