#BOOKREVIEW #7
CHILDREN’S BOOK REVIEW AS A WRITER AND A READER

Title: Home Sweet Home
Author: Caroline Pitcher
Illustrator: Jenny Arthur
Genre: Children’s Picture Book
Target Reader: 3-7 years old

What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase ‘Home Sweet Home’? 

Let’s pause for a moment. Close your eyes and repeat to yourself – HOME SWEET HOME. Notice the feelings that arise in your mind and body. Multiple emotions arise when we try to feel the feeling of home. It brings a sense of belongingness. Ask anyone living in a new city or a country what ‘home sweet home’ means, and you will witness raw emotions representing loneliness and longing. 

The words home and house carry different meanings. While a house is the structure in which people live, a home is where hearts connect. Any place can be made into a house, but not every house can be a home. Creating a home takes effort, intention and emotional connection. It’s a place where mind, body and soul feel calm and rejuvenated. 

Caroline’s children’s book HOME SWEET HOME explores the emotional terrain through a simple yet heartbreaking set-up where a frog is living in a big, green bucket with holes in the sides and water in the bottom. The owner of the old bucket decided to throw it, and now the frog needed a place to live. The frog hopped from one spot to another but couldn’t find a new home. Other animals occupied every possible location and didn’t want to share any space with the frog. 

The line, ‘Frog hopped away gloomily. Nobody seemed to want him,’ expresses the sadness and isolation felt by the little web-footed creature. Maybe Caroline faced a similar situation where she was left to find a home for herself. She knows that acceptance and belongingness are the foundation for feeling at home. 

As the story progresses, it shifts from a compelling narrative to a vocabulary-building exercise, which may limit engagement from readers. It would benefit from a stronger element of surprise to keep the young reader hooked on the book. 

Caroline describes each animal’s habitat through simple words and vivid illustrations that reflect her knowledge and thoughtful storytelling. Maybe she loves animals, or she knows that using animals to narrate a story is a powerful way to keep the children involved.

In the end, Home Sweet Home is more than a story about a frog — it’s a reminder of how deeply we all long for a place where we truly belong.

Finally, does the frog find its sweet home? That is for you to discover. 

---