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Where I Live: Poems About My Home, My Street, and My Town
What is home? Revel in the ineffable sense of belonging in anthologist Paul B. Janeczko’s diverse selection of poems with sure appeal for children.
Home is shoes tucked under the bed while you sleep, or fancy-dancying at the neighborhood block party. It’s buttermilk biscuits and gospel music at the church picnic. It’s traffic lights and parked cars; rooftop views as far as you can see; ice cream trucks and yellow boots; sharing breakfast cereal and boiled eggs with your brothers; or running through sprinklers with water on your lips, dripping from eyelashes like fat raindrops. Whether we hang our hats in a walk-up apartment in the city, a farmhouse in the country, or any place in between, the poems in this collection celebrate the places where we live: our homes, our streets, our towns. Gathered by eminent poet and anthologist Paul B. Janeczko, these thirty-four inviting verses are paired with light-filled illustrations by Hyewon Yum evoking the warm details of daily life.
Contributors include:
Francisco X. Alarcón * Dave Crawley * Walter de la Mare * Rebecca Kai Dotlich * Eleanor Farjeon * Aileen Fisher * Betsy Franco * Charles Ghigna * Nikki Giovanni * Nikki Grimes * Avis Harley * Patricia Hubbell * Langston Hughes * Reuben Jackson * Paul B. Janeczko * X. J. Kennedy * Irene Latham * Lois Lenski * Myra Cohn Livingston * Wes Magee * Lilian Moore * Naomi Shihab Nye * Lin Oliver * Linda Sue Park * Iain Crichton Smith * Gary Soto * Amy Ludwig VanDerwater * Hope Vestergaard * Nicholas Virgilio * Charles Waters * Janet Wong * Valerie Worth * Charlotte Zolotow
Home is shoes tucked under the bed while you sleep, or fancy-dancying at the neighborhood block party. It’s buttermilk biscuits and gospel music at the church picnic. It’s traffic lights and parked cars; rooftop views as far as you can see; ice cream trucks and yellow boots; sharing breakfast cereal and boiled eggs with your brothers; or running through sprinklers with water on your lips, dripping from eyelashes like fat raindrops. Whether we hang our hats in a walk-up apartment in the city, a farmhouse in the country, or any place in between, the poems in this collection celebrate the places where we live: our homes, our streets, our towns. Gathered by eminent poet and anthologist Paul B. Janeczko, these thirty-four inviting verses are paired with light-filled illustrations by Hyewon Yum evoking the warm details of daily life.
Contributors include:
Francisco X. Alarcón * Dave Crawley * Walter de la Mare * Rebecca Kai Dotlich * Eleanor Farjeon * Aileen Fisher * Betsy Franco * Charles Ghigna * Nikki Giovanni * Nikki Grimes * Avis Harley * Patricia Hubbell * Langston Hughes * Reuben Jackson * Paul B. Janeczko * X. J. Kennedy * Irene Latham * Lois Lenski * Myra Cohn Livingston * Wes Magee * Lilian Moore * Naomi Shihab Nye * Lin Oliver * Linda Sue Park * Iain Crichton Smith * Gary Soto * Amy Ludwig VanDerwater * Hope Vestergaard * Nicholas Virgilio * Charles Waters * Janet Wong * Valerie Worth * Charlotte Zolotow
48 pages, Hardcover
Published March 14, 2023
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Paul B. Janeczko
62 books48 followersPaul B. Janeczko is a poet and teacher and has edited more than twenty award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including STONE BENCH IN AN EMPTY PARK, LOOKING FOR YOUR NAME, SEEING THE BLUE BETWEEN, and A POKE IN THE I, which was an American Library Association Notable Book.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 27, 2023
So many poems but what I loved most of all are the beautiful illustrations! So gorgeous! The poems were great too though because it covered "my home, my street, and my town." I have been reading a few of the poems each night before bedtime for my toddler. We loved looking at the illustrations and how it described the poem. The poems were quick reads. I just took longer because I'm in transition of a new job. An awesome book for kids!
Thank you Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review!
Thank you Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review!
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March 21, 2024Where I Live: Poems about My Home, My Street, and My Town, edited by Paul B. Janeczko, is one of Janeczko’s final projects. This cozy collection of thirty-four poems is, as the subtitle suggests, organized by settings of home, street, and town. Janeczko selected poems with playful language and surprising imagery that tickles young ears and imaginations in memorable ways. The poems included represent a variety of cultural backgrounds, and this diversity is echoed in Hyewon Yum’s mostly pastel artwork rendered in child-friendly colored pencil drawings. The diversity also extends to the many different (and visually intriguing) poetic forms in the book. Many of the poems in Where I Live can serve as mentor texts while others beg to be read aloud. The poems are rich in specific details which, taken together, reveal the universal truth that “home” can happen for children in many different ways as long as there is comfort and familiarity.
March 11, 2023
Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus
This is the last work of Janeczko, who edited many collections of poetry for middle grade and young adult readers and passed away in 2019. Ranging from well-known poets like Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni to lesser known artists (and throwing in a poem of his own!), these poems all highlight various concepts of what makes a home so comforting. Sometimes this is the house itself, like de la Mare's The Window or VanDerwater's Our Rooftop, and sometimes it is the people within it, like Wong's The Breakfast Boss, which is copyrighted 2012, but which seemed like it should have been written in the 1970s, since it talks about children who get breakfast for themselves with the help of an older neighbor girl after their mother goes to work! Out further into the world we see leaves in the park, pigeons, grocery stores, laundromats, a car wash, and lots of people.
Since the poems are by a variety of writers, there are many different forms of poetry and styles of verse. Some poems, like Virgilio's Now the Swing is Still are just a handfull of words, while others have several stanzas and take up the entire page. There are about 30 poems in all, making this long enough to fulfill many poetry assignments!
Yum's illustrations, rendered in colored pencil and watercolor, have a warm yet airy feel that pairs well with the text. I loved the bright pastels, and there's plenty of detail on each page to spark conversations.
One of my favorite picture books is Burton's The Little House, so this collection poetry about home really spoke to me. Now, if I could just find the 1960s book about different architectural styles that I can't remember the title or author of! Yum also illustrated This Is Our House, and A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano is another book that is written in verse. Other titles about the meaning of home include Home is a Window by Stephanie Ledyard and A House Is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman, which expands the view of home beyond humans!
I loved that the poems are arranged in the same way that community is taught in schools and understood by children; home, street, and town.
This is the last work of Janeczko, who edited many collections of poetry for middle grade and young adult readers and passed away in 2019. Ranging from well-known poets like Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni to lesser known artists (and throwing in a poem of his own!), these poems all highlight various concepts of what makes a home so comforting. Sometimes this is the house itself, like de la Mare's The Window or VanDerwater's Our Rooftop, and sometimes it is the people within it, like Wong's The Breakfast Boss, which is copyrighted 2012, but which seemed like it should have been written in the 1970s, since it talks about children who get breakfast for themselves with the help of an older neighbor girl after their mother goes to work! Out further into the world we see leaves in the park, pigeons, grocery stores, laundromats, a car wash, and lots of people.
Since the poems are by a variety of writers, there are many different forms of poetry and styles of verse. Some poems, like Virgilio's Now the Swing is Still are just a handfull of words, while others have several stanzas and take up the entire page. There are about 30 poems in all, making this long enough to fulfill many poetry assignments!
Yum's illustrations, rendered in colored pencil and watercolor, have a warm yet airy feel that pairs well with the text. I loved the bright pastels, and there's plenty of detail on each page to spark conversations.
One of my favorite picture books is Burton's The Little House, so this collection poetry about home really spoke to me. Now, if I could just find the 1960s book about different architectural styles that I can't remember the title or author of! Yum also illustrated This Is Our House, and A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano is another book that is written in verse. Other titles about the meaning of home include Home is a Window by Stephanie Ledyard and A House Is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman, which expands the view of home beyond humans!
I loved that the poems are arranged in the same way that community is taught in schools and understood by children; home, street, and town.
Read
December 9, 2023I read the following text for my graduate course. The book, "Where I Live, Poems About My Home, My Street, And My Town," selected by Paul B. Janeczsko and Illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Paul Janeczsko was a poet and teacher that edited many poetry and won awards for some of his other work.
The selection of poems were made by Janeczsko himself. The poems are all around the theme of homes and their surroundings. The text is divided into three sections, Home, Street, and Town. Some pages have one poem, while others have one poem on one side and the illustration goes onto both pages. Each poem has its own illustration to mirror the verses on paper. Some poems are longer than others, some rhyme, some are dialogue and it shows by the use of different font. The poems are also put in different form, some are one one verse then space, others one word only followed by the rest, some ask questions, that make you think.
Yum the illustrator made sure that each poem had their own illustration to mirror the verses as best as possible. Her illustrations are drawn and colored with pencil. She uses different colors, shades, light, different shapes of lines to imitate wind with leaves. The illustrations depict the different homes that children live in, their surroundings, and even shows children at school during recess. The children are of all different races and shown playing together outside. These illustrations go along with the dialogue poem.
This text of poetry is a great mentor text to introduce children to poetry. Poems are easy to read and children can look at the illustrations to know what the verses are saying. Also in the area of Home, one can see how each home is different. The first poem of homes says, "Any old place that's your home base is where you want to be," there an can a conversation when it comes to community and how each one is different in some ways and similar in others.
The selection of poems were made by Janeczsko himself. The poems are all around the theme of homes and their surroundings. The text is divided into three sections, Home, Street, and Town. Some pages have one poem, while others have one poem on one side and the illustration goes onto both pages. Each poem has its own illustration to mirror the verses on paper. Some poems are longer than others, some rhyme, some are dialogue and it shows by the use of different font. The poems are also put in different form, some are one one verse then space, others one word only followed by the rest, some ask questions, that make you think.
Yum the illustrator made sure that each poem had their own illustration to mirror the verses as best as possible. Her illustrations are drawn and colored with pencil. She uses different colors, shades, light, different shapes of lines to imitate wind with leaves. The illustrations depict the different homes that children live in, their surroundings, and even shows children at school during recess. The children are of all different races and shown playing together outside. These illustrations go along with the dialogue poem.
This text of poetry is a great mentor text to introduce children to poetry. Poems are easy to read and children can look at the illustrations to know what the verses are saying. Also in the area of Home, one can see how each home is different. The first poem of homes says, "Any old place that's your home base is where you want to be," there an can a conversation when it comes to community and how each one is different in some ways and similar in others.
June 28, 2023
First sentence: Home
East side, West side,
all around the town.
Which side
is the best side?
Wherever you sit down
to eat your supper, pet your cat,
do homework, watch TV.
Any old place
that's your home base
is where you want to be.
X.J. Kennedy
Premise/plot: Where I Live is a poetry collection edited by Paul B. Janeczko. The poems are gathered together into three sections, "Home," "Street," and "Town." Each poem is illustrated. Many poems celebrate the ordinary, the little moments that make up life.
My thoughts: Poetry collections are interesting. I always find a few to love. I rarely love them one and all. Such is the case with this new collection. There were a handful of poems that I definitely enjoyed reading. I thought they worked really well. I could see using them in the classroom, sharing them with young ones.
One of my favorite visual poems is by Nicholas Virgilio.
"Now the swing is still:
a suspended tire
centers the autumn moon."
The illustration shows a tire swing with a centered moon. It's a beautiful image.
I loved Ice Cream Truck by Irene Latham
On summer Mondays
we listen
for the jinglesong
that holds
half notes
of winter:
fudgesicle
orangesicle
pushpop
bombpop
firecracker
snowball
and ice cream
on a stick
that drips
unless
your tongue
is swift
like mine.
The Walk
Crunching my boots
through another snowstorm,
each footprint a temporary tattoo
against the frosted prairie.
~ Charles Waters
East side, West side,
all around the town.
Which side
is the best side?
Wherever you sit down
to eat your supper, pet your cat,
do homework, watch TV.
Any old place
that's your home base
is where you want to be.
X.J. Kennedy
Premise/plot: Where I Live is a poetry collection edited by Paul B. Janeczko. The poems are gathered together into three sections, "Home," "Street," and "Town." Each poem is illustrated. Many poems celebrate the ordinary, the little moments that make up life.
My thoughts: Poetry collections are interesting. I always find a few to love. I rarely love them one and all. Such is the case with this new collection. There were a handful of poems that I definitely enjoyed reading. I thought they worked really well. I could see using them in the classroom, sharing them with young ones.
One of my favorite visual poems is by Nicholas Virgilio.
"Now the swing is still:
a suspended tire
centers the autumn moon."
The illustration shows a tire swing with a centered moon. It's a beautiful image.
I loved Ice Cream Truck by Irene Latham
On summer Mondays
we listen
for the jinglesong
that holds
half notes
of winter:
fudgesicle
orangesicle
pushpop
bombpop
firecracker
snowball
and ice cream
on a stick
that drips
unless
your tongue
is swift
like mine.
The Walk
Crunching my boots
through another snowstorm,
each footprint a temporary tattoo
against the frosted prairie.
~ Charles Waters
February 17, 2024
Paul B. Janeczko's posthumous collection shares older poems and a few new ones from 34 poets, in three sections defining home: Home, Street, and Town. Some of the poems readers may recognize as old favorites, like X.J. Kennedy's rhythmic "Home": "East side, West side,/all around the town./Which side/is the best side?/Wherever you sit down/to eat your supper, pet your cat. . ." And they will love the new "Ice Cream Truck" by Irene Latham. Doesn't everyone have one if they live in a town or city? Nikki Grimes writes about a "Block Party". It's a great book to share with students who will want to write about the special places they live, and perhaps illustrate their work. Hyewon Yum's watercolor and colored pencil illustrations beautifully show the lively days of people, and animals, too, having lots of fun where they live. The variety of ways to imagine where we live and what we do will inspire all who read this lovely book. It's a Cybils finalist in poetry collections.
March 13, 2025
This collection of 34 poems explores the feelings of home in our houses, on our streets and in our communities. The various poems are diverse in content and voice including authors from different time periods and genres. It is a sweet collection broken into three parts and includes a table of contents as well as the copyright acknowledgements for each poem. The beautifully soft illustrations evoke a feeling of calm and love to highlight the sentiments of the various poems. This would be a good addition to those collections that need more in their juvenile poetry section. This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.
June 7, 2023
Brief summary: This is a collection of twenty-four poems divided into three sections: home, street, and town. The variety of poets and authors is diverse, with examples of several different types of poems—an excellent poetry addition to any library.
The illustrator captures the mood and characteristics of each poem.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
The illustrator captures the mood and characteristics of each poem.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
August 12, 2023
When you have poems by Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, and others in a book I am a fan.
I also loved the diverse representation that was found. Every child has a different type of environment they call home. (City, Town, Home, Apartment, two parent households, single parent households) and all can be found!
I also loved the diverse representation that was found. Every child has a different type of environment they call home. (City, Town, Home, Apartment, two parent households, single parent households) and all can be found!
July 24, 2024
2023 Cybils finalist in poetry.
It was a nice read, nothing I wanted to save to my journal, and my appreciation of picture books is definitely colored by what my kids would have thought back in the day. They would have hated this as they were allergic to poetry from birth, much to my chagrin.
So no cosy feelings for me, just an imaginary chorus of whining.
It was a nice read, nothing I wanted to save to my journal, and my appreciation of picture books is definitely colored by what my kids would have thought back in the day. They would have hated this as they were allergic to poetry from birth, much to my chagrin.
So no cosy feelings for me, just an imaginary chorus of whining.
October 11, 2025
This children's anthology picture book includes poems from Gary Soto, Naomi Shihab Nye, Linda Sue Park, Nikki Giovanni, and Langston Hughes. Soft, colored pencil illustrations highlighting urban to rural homes, streets, and towns, this book speaks to all of us, wherever we may live.
Themes: homes, poetry
Ages:
Pub year: 2023
Themes: homes, poetry
Ages:
Pub year: 2023
May 2, 2023
Really great collection of poetry that is beautifully illustrated. There is such a variety of poems and poets and styles represented that it will have vast appeal. This collection is great for my school library for both students and teachers.
June 9, 2023
Where I Live is a children's anthology collected by Paul Janeczko. Each poem is illustrated with a watercolor pencil process. There are poems by Langston Hughes, Nikki Grimes, Paul Janeczko, Aileen Fisher and others.
Want to read
September 15, 2022Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.
April 9, 2023
The illustrations are wonderful. I found many of the poems lackluster, especially since I'm particular about poetry, but this is a nice themed collection with warm, detailed, inviting illustrations.
December 8, 2023
A nice range of poems from different authors.
March 25, 2024
Lovely collection of poems and illustrations for children.
July 1, 2025
6.25/10⭐️
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews