Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 07/04/2025 PreS-Gr 1—Moving houses, like many transitions in a child's life, can stir up powerful feelings. Brown has crafted a touching exploration of one such move as experienced by two closely connected siblings. At the story's start, a brother sits with his apprehensive younger sister on their stoop, gently reminding her of the homes their family has occupied and of the faces, routines, and sensations that went with them: a fifth-floor walkup with endless stair-climbing, a large apartment building with door-to-door trick-or-treating in the hallways, a rowhouse with a secret passage leading to the neighbors' backyard. From these memories, he compiles a history of their lives. Eagle-eyed readers will spot a partially obscured "SOLD" sign in the opening spread. Sure enough, Brown eventually reveals that these reminiscences have been building up to a pep talk—the family is moving again, this time to live with their beloved grandfather (who uses a walker to aid his mobility). Here, the brother's frank reassurance takes on a soothing, poetic intimacy: "This is how the moving will go: We will put our things in boxes. Fragile things get wrapped in newspaper. Big things are tied up in blankets." The tender ink, watercolor, and digital art neatly captures the emotions of a family navigating life's normal complexities. While several of the illustrations are rotated sideways to show a sequence of actions across multiple floors of a building, most simply give a wide view of a single moment, allowing the eye to wander and observe the doings of background characters in playgrounds and restaurants. The text and images play particularly well off each other when the brother's narration humorously papers over his past fears of playground slides and dinosaur exhibits with big-kid bravado, while readers can see the truth for themselves. VERDICT An appealing family story, well-suited for both one-on-one and large-group read-alouds.—Jonah Dragan - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 07/01/2025 The idea of moving to a new home has a little girl worried, but her big brother is on hand to talk her through it. He describes their family’s many moves from a child’s perspective, while images show them relocating from small apartments to larger homes as their family grows and changes over the years. Some spreads require turning the book vertically, perhaps echoing how moving can be disorienting at first; careful observers will notice that certain treasured items reliably appear in every home. At one point, brother helpfully explains the literal process of packing and loading the van, but the real heart of the book lies in his warm descriptions of moments and communities they have known. While clearly acknowledging that “sometimes I don’t want to move,” the larger theme here is that homes are where we make memories—some good and some bad—and that moving holds the promise of making new ones, always with the people we love. An inviting and reassuring discussion starter for families preparing to pack up. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.