A Home Named Walter

by Chelsea Lin Wallace, Ginnie Hsu (Illustrator)

Overview

A home named Walter learns how to heal his broken heart after a family he loves moves away in this poignant picture book about loss and renewal.

Walter was a happy home.

He loved the bustle and warmth of the family that lived with him. But when they move away, his feelings are hurt. He grows cold and quiet and only wants to be left alone.

So when a little girl and her mama move in, Walter is determined to get them out! But in his struggle to do so, Walter may just feel livable again and change how he feels.

Chelsea Lin Wallace has written a truly poignant story. With its classic sensibility, paired with Ginnie Hsu’s warm and lush illustrations, A Home Named Walter is a special story that will resonate with many readers for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250316417
Publisher:	Feiwel & Friends
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Chelsea Lin Wallace is an author and a poet with a Master’s in Education. As a former elementary school educator, she loves teaching creative writing to children. As a little girl, Chelsea moved around a lot, but felt a unique connection to every home. She now lives happily in Los Angeles, California with her husband, daughter, and dog.

Ginnie Hsu is an illustrator, designer, animator, maker and educator living in upstate New York where she teaches illustration at the University of Syracuse. Her love for drawing began in her childhood in Taiwan, and her work is often inspired by everyday life, nature, human living, travel and old artifacts she randomly finds. She loves mixing new and traditional media to create magic for all. Her illustration work includes Tracy Nelson Maurer's Lady Bird Johnson, That's Who! and Dr. Christle Nwora's The Hospital: The Inside Story.

Editorial Reviews

07/04/2022

A white clapboard dwelling with a face rendered on his roof and walls, Walter relishes the “hustle and bustle” of family life. When his residents, an interracial family of four, unexpectedly depart, he expresses hurt by letting “his grass turn brown and his plumbing rust.” Before long, pale-skinned Mama and light-brown-skinned Little Girl arrive. At first, Walter (the story’s only named character) tries various tricks to “Get. Them. Out,” but when he observes Little Girl speaking to a photo (“I miss you, Papa”), pent-up sadness pours forth in the form of burst pipes. Simultaneously, Little Girl discovers a photo of Walter’s previous occupants, allowing the pair to bond over their experiences of loss. In acrylic gouache, colored pencil, and digital art, Hsu depicts Walter with simple facial features, including a mouth that frowns, pouts, and eventually smiles, in conjunction with Lin Wallace’s emotionally focused storytelling. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"The project succeeds by spotlighting the growing emotional intelligence of Little Girl and Walter. In this cozy home, open hearts prevail."—Kirkus Reviews

"In acrylic gouache, colored pencil, and digital art, Hsu depicts Walter with simple facial features, including a mouth that frowns, pouts, and eventually smiles, in conjunction with Lin Wallace’s emotionally focused storytelling." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2022-03-30
Wallace explores the notion of home by personifying a house who loses one family and slowly accepts another.

When his beloved first family leaves, “Walter’s feelings were hurt.” He grimly relishes his browning lawn, rusting pipes, and sagging floors. When a brown-skinned girl and her lighter-skinned mother move in, Walter feels cramped and resentful. Little Girl feels unsettled, too, though she’s reassured by her capable mom. Wallace endows Walter with poltergeistlike responses to the new family’s intrusion: He slams shutters, hobbles the oven, and sabotages the fireplace. He observes Little Girl sniffling while addressing her father, holding his picture: “I miss you, Papa. You’d like our new house. He’s funny, like you.” Walter’s emotional response yields broken pipes as his “tears” flow through the house. Mama handles this latest setback with buckets and aplomb, asking her daughter to bring towels. When Little Girl discovers a photo of the former family, she realizes why the house is sad. “I know what it’s like to have someone move away. But it doesn’t mean you’re alone.” Her matter-of-fact empathy affects Walter: he feels understood and “livable” once more. Hsu conveys Walter’s emotions through dot-and-dash facial features that appear on the roof or walls. Her bright, detailed pictures elevate a potentially maudlin premise, and the project succeeds by spotlighting the growing emotional intelligence of Little Girl and Walter. Both former and current families present as multiracial.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

In this cozy home, open hearts prevail. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews