Home is a Wish
Launch Date February 4, 2025 • Roaring Brook Press • Written by Julia Kuo
A deeply moving, gorgeously illustrated picture book about leaving home and finding a new place to fit in, for anyone dealing with a move, to another town or to a new country.
Sometimes we leave home in the mornings, in the evenings, or for much longer. But we always come back.
Home becomes a wish when we move, when the new place isn’t the same. Everything might be different: the sounds, the smell, the people, the weather.
But home isn’t just a place. We carry home in our hearts, and it can grow and change as we do in our lives. With time, new faces become friends, and what is different becomes familiar.
Home can be a wish that comes true.
Like Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away and The Day You Begin, this beautiful exploration of what it’s like to deal with a big change is personal, emotionally resonant, and relatable. With page after lovely page of captivating art, New York Times bestselling illustrator Julia Kuo has created a lasting story about how time, patience, and an open heart can help someone feel at home anywhere in the world.
Events
Launch event and LNY reading
Saturday, Feburary 8 at 10am
Mam’s Books
George Fox University's Art Talk
Monday, February 24 from 6-7pm
Chehalem Cultural Center
Seabrook 2025 Beachside Author Series
Saturday, March 8 from 10-11:30am
Seabrook Town Hall
Order the Book
Interviews
More to come!
Honors
More to come!
Learn About How I Work
Learn about my process in Home Is A Wish
Critical Praise
“Kuo’s spare yet graceful prose and her signature graphic-style artwork, beautifully saturated with pinks and blues, imbue this simple story with heft.
Elegantly constructed yet warmly comforting—a soothing balm for children undergoing similar changes.”
- Kirkus starred review
“Kuo’s vivid color shifts—shadowy blues giving way to bright blue skies—herald the child’s gradual acceptance of a new home in this pensive tale of relocation that centers the melancholy as well as the optimism of change.”
- Publishers Weekly starred review
"Beautifully complemented by digital, ethereal landscapes and cityscapes, Kuo’s poignant exploration of moving to a new home captures a child’s uncertainty and search for familiarity.
Share this picture book with readers struggling to adjust to a new place, offering them comfort and reassurance that home isn’t just a physical space—it’s something they can always carry with them in their hearts.”
- BCCG starred review