Lim, Hope. Mommy’s Hometown. Jaime Kim, Illustrator. Candlewick. 04/2022. [32]pp. Picture Book. GRADES Kindergarten – 2. ADDITIONAL. Trade $17.99. 978-1-5362-1332-4.
A young boy has heard mommy’s stories about what her hometown was like when she was growing up, in a rural area of a faraway country. The two of them return to her home country and everything seems to have changed as urban growth has swallowed up the area; even the river is now lined with high rise buildings. Luckily, Grandma welcomes them and later calls them in from playing in the river, just like when mommy was growing up. Digital illustrations portray everyone as Asian, while the look and feel of the hometown, where they live now, and the new urban area smoothly align with the story’s text. Since the author and illustrator are from Korea and now live in the United States, their work deftly shows their experiences in several places: an older, rural Korea, present-day United States, and a modern Korean town full of electronic signs, people, and buildings. A wonderful look at what it’s like to live in different places, or how a parent’s childhood was different from how things are now.
Joshua Rees — Daly City Public Library