March Booklist from Henry

Last week I went to see the play my daughter’s school put on....

It was Finding Nemo Jr., a 50 minute romp through the oceans and reefs of what I guess is the South Pacific, based on events in the story.

Nemo struggles against his overprotective father and winds up in an aquarium. His fellow aquarium mates hilariously suggest escaping by pooping their way out, i.e. filling the tank with enough poop to flop themselves over the top. I can’t remember how Nemo did eventually make his way back, nor did I really hear any of the dialogue delivered by the elementary-age voices, but the return home was nonetheless VERY emotional and brought the audience to its feet.

My point is that being ‘home’ fills us with feelings of safety, privacy, relief and comfort, where you can feel at ease to do what makes the most sense to you around people who won’t give you too hard a time for your little weirdsies or whatever. Here are five great books about feeling separated from home, the journey back, and those who help us get there.

Penguin and Penelope by Salina Yoon

Penelope the elephant loses her way and is left behind by her family.

Found stuck in the mud by Penguin, the two of them journey together and deal with problems along the way. They grow so close that they remain in each other’s lives even long after the reunion.

(That’s not a spoiler, is it? I mean, you know Elephant is going to get home, right?

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

Little Owl’s bejeweled, technicolor world becomes very scary while Mama Owl isn’t around.

Are there any animals who can help? Most of them are already safely with their own families, but Little Owl has one good friend to help him search. 

Sadly, this friend does not know much about owl anatomy.

Red Knit Cap Girl to the Rescue by Naoko Stoop

The Red Knit Cap Girl features in a series of stories, but in this one she gets an SOS from way out on the water. She and White Bunny collect a lost and lonely polar bear and would love to help return him home, but they don’t know anything about polar bears.

But the lengths they go to, from folding a paper boat to asking the moon for advice outstrip the usual escort story and make the reader truly root for their success.

The story unfolds gently, giving you plenty of time to soak up the illustrations that connect you to an evocative world of fable. My favorite spread is the waves of the stormy sea, which I couldn’t find, but here is one just as mesmerizing.

The Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

I LOVE picture books without words; they are such a powerful tool to help kids (and adults) realize they can be a reader and a storyteller.

This book has no words and so it is open for the reader to translate into words what happens in the pictures.

A girl on her walk home from school is turned around by a fierce snowstorm. Her panic builds and builds until it is suddenly dissipated by a chance meeting with a lost wolf cub in a grove of trees. The girl accepts her mission and shepherds the wolf toward the howls floating over the forest.

Satisfied but still lost, the girl continues looking for home. But it’s not quite the same woods - the wolves are aware of her, and what she’s done for them

Oregon’s Journey by Rascal

This one’s a bit old and might be hard to find but totally worth it. Oregon (the bear) and Duke (the performer) meet at a circus in the Pittsburgh of the 80s.

Oregon asks Duke to take him away from the circus and back home, to the forest. So they set out on a cross country trip that sees them through scenes that show the broad range of cultural and geographic diversity in the United States.

The book is both somber and touching, and does not move fast at all, giving the characters and the reader a perfect atmosphere to contemplate the country and the lives they encounter on their journey