A Home Made Of Books
MY THOUGHTS
A Home Made of Books is a deeply personal, gentle book that will leave a lasting impression on anyone who reads it. I spent a long time just sitting with this book. I read it once, twice, and then turned the pages a third time to just look at the amazing illustrations.
In A Home Made of Books, Dadu is in the hospital. As the grandson narrates the story, he shows what everyone in the family is up to as they wait to hear from the hospital. The narrator looks at all the ways books have been a source of comfort and hope for the family. The narrator describes how their home probably has more books than the local library and how a book can always be counted on to be there in times of crisis. He also narrates how every member of the family is connected to books and the role books play in the lives of three generations of family members living in the house made of books.
Author Jairaj Singh writes a story so evocative and gentle that the words find their way into your heart and become one of the most moving books you will read all year. His approach to showing how entwined a family’s life is with books is novel. Often when people ask how to get a child interested in books, the answer is always to lead by example. This book captures that beautifully as we see the parents reading and actively filling their home with books.
The illustrations by Aindri C are breathtaking. The colour palette of orange, brown, and yellow paints the entire book in a sepia tone, lending a warm and comforting vibe. She has used a rich, layered, textured illustrative format where you see faded bits of inscribed paper, almost like a faded calendar on many pages. She uses stacks of books as objects around the house — as steps to sit on, as a flying kite, as room dividers showing how ubiquitous books are to the home. My absolute favourite illustration is of the entire family sitting on the floor in the midst of a bookshelf, quietly reading as they enjoy each other’s company in silence.
There are so many things I love about this book, but my absolute favourite is how it shows the many things books can be. Books can be comforting and supportive. They are the calm in a chaotic world. They offer a sense of familiarity when things around you feel difficult. They ground you, and they expand your mind. And when all else fails, a book is always there because you remembered to carry it along with you.
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