Where?

by Jordan Collins, Phil Lesnie (Illustrator)

Overview

A child claims their space in the world with a hopeful response to a complicated question in this lyrical picture book.

I am from children of millions of years, a time line of humanity.
I am from this planet and all others.

When a child is once again on the receiving end of the dreaded question “Where are you from?” their answer takes readers on an intergalactic journey through the cosmos. Traveling across space and time, past collapsing stars and nebulae, the young narrator reminds us not of our differences but of our shared humanity. Debut author Jordan Collins’s poetic prose, informed by lived experience, and Phil Lesnie’s stunning illustrations create a powerful story that celebrates our intricate and beautiful connections with one another. End notes from author and illustrator relay more about the experiences both have had in fielding a question that may be familiar to many young readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536232738
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.63(w) x 11.31(h) x 0.41(d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Jordan Collins was born in Chicago and moved to Australia at age eight. Where? began as a slam poem that they wrote after a lifetime of being asked questions like “Where are you from?” Jordan Collins lives in Sydney, Australia.

Phil Lesnie is an acclaimed children’s book illustrator and also a children’s bookseller. They work primarily in watercolor, because in watercolor even mistakes look lovely. Phil Lesnie is based in Sydney, Australia.

Editorial Reviews

05/06/2024

Collins, making a picture book debut with this work that began as a slam poem, employs energetic prose, giving voice to a child, portrayed with brown skin and curly hair, explaining how they respond when asked, “Where are you from?” Beginning with a joke (“Well, when a mother and father love each other very much...”) and a question (“What can I possibly say/ to make my answer/ seem slightly okay?”), the narrative soon delves into a more expansive mode. Answers range from “the void and cosmic dust/ around our solar system” to “the redwood trees,/ their roots sunk deep into the ground.” Recognizing the basis of the question, the speaker ponders, “Because what they mean to ask me that is,/ ‘Why is your skin that color?/ Why does your hair look like that?’// They don’t care that my molecules were made/ in the same place as theirs.” Digital illustrations by Lesnie (A Soldier, a Dog and a Boy) depict the child traveling across various realistic and fantastical landscapes, accompanying responses that build to a final, powerful response: “I’m from the same place/ that you are.// So no need to ask again.” Creators’ notes conclude. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Collins, making a picture book debut with this work that began as a slam poem, employs energetic prose. . . . Digital illustrations by Lesnie depict the child traveling across various realistic and fantastical landscapes, accompanying responses that build to a final, powerful response.
—Publishers Weekly

Lesnie’s dazzlingly vivid illustrations immerse the child in a rich imaginative world, depicting lush green trees, rainbow nebulae, and luminous golden lanterns on dark water. . . . An unusual and inventive selection for beginning tough conversations with young readers.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-05-04
A child “straight from the center of the universe” faces a small-minded world.

The dark-skinned young narrator, wearing a striped woolen hat, fields the same question over and over: “Where are you from?” Words in different typefaces surround the child on the opening spread, and the protagonist pulls on the strings on the hat, seemingly for protection. The child wonders, “How am I supposed to respond?” Tumbling through a door in the clouds into a vast galaxy, the child declares, “I’m from the interiors of collapsing stars” and “the iridescent glow of a nebula.” The protagonist comes from the moons of Saturn and Pluto, from redwood trees and ocean tides, from voyagers and artists. The child continues even as others persist with the same question, which really means, “Why is your skin that color?” and “Why does your hair look like that?” But the child counters: “You see skin and I see supernovas.” Lesnie’s dazzlingly vivid illustrations immerse the child in a rich imaginative world, depicting lush green trees, rainbow nebulae, and luminous golden lanterns on dark water, in stark contrast to the more muted colors of the child’s real, harassed life. Though Collins’ reflective text doesn’t offer a simple resolution, the child nevertheless has the last, definitive words to settle the issue.

An unusual and inventive selection for beginning tough conversations with young readers. (a note from the creators) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews