HOME IS A HEARTBEAT, by Laekan Zea Kemp and Magdalena Mora, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Sept. 9, 2025, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 4-8)
Celebrate multigenerational and multifamily households in Home Is a Heartbeat, by Laekan Zea Kemp and Magdalena Mora.
Everyone has their special place in the house. Abuela cooks in the kitchen. Mami reads by the window. Tía Imelda watches telenovelas in the living room. Abuelo tinkers around in his workshop. Even family members who have come and gone have had their special place. But what makes a house a home? —Synopsis provided by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Home Is a Heartbeat is a celebration of a full home. Every page, even the ones where there are slight disagreements, exudes joy. That joy comes in different shapes and sizes and different “special places” where family members do things that are important to them individually. All these people and memories form the house’s heartbeat.
Author Laekan Zea Kemp’s warm text makes for a pleasant read-aloud, and Magdalena Mora’s watercolor, gouache, ink and pastels illustrations are full of color and movement.
Home Is a Heartbeat is an exuberant read.
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