*Home Place by Crescent Dragonwagon (1990) has a premise that unfolds gently and leaves a powerful impact. For the first page, we see Jerry Pinkney’s distinctive style in a close up of daffodils growing in the woods. They come up every year, despite any human intervention; they were tended in the past. We know this by the remnants of a home hidden in the weeds. A couple and young girl come upon these things while on a hike. They stumbled upon history. The girl discovers “A round blue glass marble, a nail. A horseshoe and a piece of plate. A small yellow bottle. A china doll’s arm.” Pinkney offers a visual, a family of color. Dragonwagon suggests what this family was doing, once upon a time. I just love this story, perhaps because I’m old enough to have family memories.
