I'm From Here and There - Paperback

A lyrical picture book about belonging to two places at once - and not having to choose between them.

Every child who has ever left one place for another carries a "there" inside them. In I'm From Here and There, a young child born in one country and raised in another learns to hold both as part of who they are. Though they don't remember "there," they carry its language, its stories, and its love in their heart - alongside the everyday joys of "here."

Season by season, the child notices how the two worlds tilt against each other: fall there, spring here; a Christmas that is cold and cozy in one place and full of sunshine and music in the other; bedtime on one clock while morning is already arriving on the other. There are folktales from here and folktales from there, both wrapped in the same wonder. And in the noticing, something settles - the two halves were never a question to be answered. They are simply the shape of this child's life.

Written in warm, rhythmic verse for ages 3 to 8, I'm From Here and There speaks to any child living between a here and a there - whether that's two countries, two languages, two houses, or the town they left and the one they live in now.

Inside the book:

• A gentle, read-aloud story in free verse, about 440 words
• Back matter introducing "there" as Brazil, with Portuguese words and simple pronunciation guides
• An introduction to Brazilian traditions including Festa Junina and Carnaval
• Side-by-side animals of two countries: jaguar and cougar, sloth and bear, toucan and bald eagle

A tender read-aloud for families in the middle of a move, for children finding their footing somewhere new, for Brazilian and bicultural families raising children between two languages, and for classrooms and libraries where every child's story starts somewhere different.