Description

In this gorgeous, wordless story, a family makes their home on a cliff overlooking the sea. They live peacefully, spending their days exploring the ocean and filling their home with warmth and laughter. But as seasons pass, the waters rise, bringing the tides closer to the clifftop and the house. When a powerful storm rages and giant waves engulf the cliff, the family must leave—but not without their beloved home.

Inspired by true stories of communities relocating houses, award-winning artist Guojing evokes a family’s ingenuity and determination to save their home in a moving portrait of empathy, love and strength. Through dreamy ocean scenes and vibrant tones of red, pinks and blues, this striking narrative offers an adventure story with a dramatic and glorious ending.

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews, May 16, 2025

A family faces change with true ingenuity.

Residing on an isolated cliff in a tiny red house, a couple spend their days fishing, dreaming, and watching the seasons pass. Soon they’re joined by a new companion, a baby whom they nurture year by year, sharing their love for moonlit nights and dolphin watching. As enchanting as their life is, the water that surrounds them is slowly, steadily rising, threatening to swallow their home, once far above sea level. With bravery and trust, the trio build a raft and transport their dwelling to higher ground, where waiting inhabitants hoist it into a peaceful green meadow. This enticing story is told wordlessly, with painterly landscapes providing the perfect setting for tender, intuitive interactions among a small cast of characters. As with much of Guojing’s work, a clear line connects this intimate tale to real-life societal challenges—in this case, the troubling consequences of climate change. And, like Guojing’s other books, the narrative is woven through with an unassailable belief in human goodness, the importance of family and community bonds, and the ineffable beauty of the fleeting world. All of this is adeptly communicated within the space and simplicity of a picture book without feeling overwhelming or overwrought. The couple and their child are dark-haired and pale-skinned.

A hopeful vision of love and persistence in the face of peril. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly

Delicate chalk and digital renderings by Guojing (The Flamingo) engross in this wordless story about a house precariously perched on the edge of a seaside overhang. Soft-edged panels showcase a growing family’s days as inhabitants of the bright-red home. Muted imagery first depicts a loving couple venturing forth via a rowboat and caringly cutting a dolphin loose from netting. The season shifts, and the couple appear in silhouette, this time revealing a baby bump. Joy emanates from proceeding visuals of a young child exuberantly walking, biking, sledding, swinging, swimming— the landscape routinely proving as much a character as the figures. When the large waves of a storm arrive, seemingly resulting in a permanent sea rise, the threat to the little abode is clear, and the trio, portrayed with pale skin and dark hair, enact an unlikely plan to save their home in the face of forces beyond their control. Though the book’s climax doesn’t fully cohere, recurrent symbols expressively convey narrative shifts, while bird’s-eye views of the house and terrain give the work an epic quality. The result is a resonant portrait of adaptation that’s at once sorrowful and triumphant. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)