I LOVE MY HOME

Striking illustrations and ever changing color palettes give young listeners a tour of animal homes around the world.

With each double-page spread beginning with “I love my home,” the book explores the concept of unique animal homes through illustrations of different animal parent-and-child pairs in their natural habitats. Even young children will recognize the animals: bears, rabbits, and monkeys, for example. Global habitats include the temperate forest, the rainforest, fresh water, the oceans, and the savanna, but most are described and not identified in the two or three short, unremarkable sentences for each spread. A beaver announces, “I love my home in the river. We’re adding branches to make a dam”; a whale says, “I love my home in the ocean. It’s my mysterious underwater world.” Reptiles are absent in the book, but seabirds have their home in the air and “love the freedom of floating on the wind,” while owls love their “home high in the hollow of a tree. Day or night, it’s the perfect home for me.” Distinctive illustrations with soft, simplified backgrounds focus attention on the animals, which are a cross between cuddly and realistic. Strikingly different color choices for each spread, especially for the brilliant coral reef and the tawny savanna but also the more-subtle dampened filtered sun in the forest and the multilayered blues of the ocean, make each page turn a treat. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Simple descriptions and standout illustrations make this a good group or snuggle-time read for younger listeners.