This is a nice story! It's so cool to me how you can build such an intricate, interesting story with no words at all on the pages! The story is about a couple that move into a new house/apartment in the city. They have a baby there and raise her up in the house. It shows the family building a normal house and making it into their home. They add a bunch of plants to the backyard and make it really beautiful and their own. At the end of the book in the author's notes, she explains how now that more people are living in cities that are newly built, that people often don't feel a connection with their house or their community. She wanted to show through her book that it is possible to build your house to be your home, as well as build community with others around you. She shows over the progress of the book how it takes time, but in the end it is worth it to have a place that you created into your home and not just a place you live. This book would be a good way to fuel discussion in the classroom about loving the space you live in and making it your own. It also is a good way to start a discussion around community and the importance that it is in our everyday lives. The illustrations in this book are very interesting. They look digital and are through the perspective of a kitchen window. It reminds me of an iSpy book. It just looks similar to the layout of one, and it's also fun to find all the little changes that occur on each page as the story goes along. ( )

This book tells the story of a girl out her bedroom window since before she was born all the way though her getting married and starting a family.

This book is about the life of Tracy. It goes through each stage of her life and showing it from the view of her window. You can see the city outside go from run down to vibrant with nature and life. The buildings that have graffiti are painted over and made into murals, the car lot turned to a park, and the billboards are replaced with buildings. This books fosters the idea of a home being more than just the building you live in, but a community where you can grow and thrive. ( )

Through the view of a girl's bedroom window we see the changes over the years in an urban landscape. The first view through the window shows a couple bringing home a baby. Their yard is paved over and the neighborhood is stark and concrete. As the girl grows, the paved yard becomes a lawn and a garden is added. The former car repair lot becomes a park. Billboards come down and new buildings are constructed. The author's message is that communities are bringing a sense of home to their communities by planting native flora.

I love Jeannie Baker's story technique. Here she tells the story of urban renewal mostly from one window view. You see the gradual changes at two year intervals and also get to follow Tracy's early life, from clues in the pictures. ( )