By Kathy Short, Mary Ann Cappiello, and Suriati Abas\u00a0<\/span>on behalf of the 2025 Expert Class Committee<\/span><\/h2>\n\n ![\"Picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.childrensliteratureassembly.org\/uploads\/1\/1\/8\/6\/118631535\/cla-blog-read-thisteach-this-header_orig.png\")
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\nExploring Home in Children’s Literature<\/span><\/h2>\nIn times of uncertainty, we seek comfort and security, especially in places where we feel surrounded by love. Home is not just a physical space but metaphorically speaks to the values and relationships central to our sense of place in the world. Framing our use of children\u2019s literature around Home encourages readers to reflect on values from which they can find the courage to dream and imagine new possibilities.\u00a0 When we experience turmoil, reflecting on our values identifies the roots that ground us and give us a sense of security from which to reach out, dream, and act.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe CLA Expert Class at the 2025 NCTE Convention in Denver is an opportunity for teachers and teacher educators to gain insights into the use of children\u2019s literature through interactions with leading educators, authors, and illustrators. This session is an exciting opportunity to expand your engagements with literature and invite readers to reflect on the values to which they are loyal and from which they read, interpret, and write literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
READ THIS<\/span><\/h2>\nIn their newest collaborative picturebook, Home,<\/em> Matt de la Pe\u00f1a and Loren Long explore the places, people, and feelings that create a sense of home and provide refuge in the face of instability, The lyrical text and vibrant images are a celebration of home in its many forms, but also a reminder that, even when\u00a0 home is lost, we can find a harbor in love through the people who walk alongside us.\u00a0
\u200b
The powerful way in which the images and words interweave in this picturebook creates layers of meaning and interpretation. The lyrical nature of Matt\u2019s reflections is matched by the emotion of Loren\u2019s textured acrylic illustrations. Themes of resilience, healing, and connection are captured in the words and images around explorations of home as love and comfort that extend beyond four walls to the earth itself. Just as in their earlier collaboration, Love,<\/em> this book tugs on reader\u2019s heartstrings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n ![\"Picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.childrensliteratureassembly.org\/uploads\/1\/1\/8\/6\/118631535\/published\/1.png?1762322131\")
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\nMaham Khwaja is the author of The Home We Make<\/em>, illustrated by Zainab Faidhi, in which a young Muslim girl and her family are forced to flee their home due to the violence of war. Told from a first-person perspective in free verse poems, the girl describes their long walk and their journey by sea to a refugee camp and eventually to a new land. Throughout this dangerous journey, the girl constantly wonders whether each new place is now home.
\u200b
This poignant portrayal of the longing for home captures the terror of displacement and the comfort of small tender moments. The harsh realities of refugee journeys are woven into loving interactions within the family and experiences of discrimination are contrasted with welcoming acts that temper the story\u2019s bleaker moments. The digital illustrations are particularly effective in conveying details and events not mentioned in the poems and in conveying emotions through the girl\u2019s expressive eyes. This picturebook is a moving and illuminating depiction of the journeys and emotions experienced by refugees.<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\nExploring Home in Children’s Literature<\/span><\/h2>\nIn times of uncertainty, we seek comfort and security, especially in places where we feel surrounded by love. Home is not just a physical space but metaphorically speaks to the values and relationships central to our sense of place in the world. Framing our use of children\u2019s literature around Home encourages readers to reflect on values from which they can find the courage to dream and imagine new possibilities.\u00a0 When we experience turmoil, reflecting on our values identifies the roots that ground us and give us a sense of security from which to reach out, dream, and act.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe CLA Expert Class at the 2025 NCTE Convention in Denver is an opportunity for teachers and teacher educators to gain insights into the use of children\u2019s literature through interactions with leading educators, authors, and illustrators. This session is an exciting opportunity to expand your engagements with literature and invite readers to reflect on the values to which they are loyal and from which they read, interpret, and write literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
READ THIS<\/span><\/h2>\nIn their newest collaborative picturebook, Home,<\/em> Matt de la Pe\u00f1a and Loren Long explore the places, people, and feelings that create a sense of home and provide refuge in the face of instability, The lyrical text and vibrant images are a celebration of home in its many forms, but also a reminder that, even when\u00a0 home is lost, we can find a harbor in love through the people who walk alongside us.\u00a0
\u200b
The powerful way in which the images and words interweave in this picturebook creates layers of meaning and interpretation. The lyrical nature of Matt\u2019s reflections is matched by the emotion of Loren\u2019s textured acrylic illustrations. Themes of resilience, healing, and connection are captured in the words and images around explorations of home as love and comfort that extend beyond four walls to the earth itself. Just as in their earlier collaboration, Love,<\/em> this book tugs on reader\u2019s heartstrings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\nMaham Khwaja is the author of The Home We Make<\/em>, illustrated by Zainab Faidhi, in which a young Muslim girl and her family are forced to flee their home due to the violence of war. Told from a first-person perspective in free verse poems, the girl describes their long walk and their journey by sea to a refugee camp and eventually to a new land. Throughout this dangerous journey, the girl constantly wonders whether each new place is now home.
\u200b
This poignant portrayal of the longing for home captures the terror of displacement and the comfort of small tender moments. The harsh realities of refugee journeys are woven into loving interactions within the family and experiences of discrimination are contrasted with welcoming acts that temper the story\u2019s bleaker moments. The digital illustrations are particularly effective in conveying details and events not mentioned in the poems and in conveying emotions through the girl\u2019s expressive eyes. This picturebook is a moving and illuminating depiction of the journeys and emotions experienced by refugees.<\/p>\n
The CLA Expert Class at the 2025 NCTE Convention in Denver is an opportunity for teachers and teacher educators to gain insights into the use of children\u2019s literature through interactions with leading educators, authors, and illustrators. This session is an exciting opportunity to expand your engagements with literature and invite readers to reflect on the values to which they are loyal and from which they read, interpret, and write literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
READ THIS<\/span><\/h2>\nIn their newest collaborative picturebook, Home,<\/em> Matt de la Pe\u00f1a and Loren Long explore the places, people, and feelings that create a sense of home and provide refuge in the face of instability, The lyrical text and vibrant images are a celebration of home in its many forms, but also a reminder that, even when\u00a0 home is lost, we can find a harbor in love through the people who walk alongside us.\u00a0
\u200b
The powerful way in which the images and words interweave in this picturebook creates layers of meaning and interpretation. The lyrical nature of Matt\u2019s reflections is matched by the emotion of Loren\u2019s textured acrylic illustrations. Themes of resilience, healing, and connection are captured in the words and images around explorations of home as love and comfort that extend beyond four walls to the earth itself. Just as in their earlier collaboration, Love,<\/em> this book tugs on reader\u2019s heartstrings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\nMaham Khwaja is the author of The Home We Make<\/em>, illustrated by Zainab Faidhi, in which a young Muslim girl and her family are forced to flee their home due to the violence of war. Told from a first-person perspective in free verse poems, the girl describes their long walk and their journey by sea to a refugee camp and eventually to a new land. Throughout this dangerous journey, the girl constantly wonders whether each new place is now home.
\u200b
This poignant portrayal of the longing for home captures the terror of displacement and the comfort of small tender moments. The harsh realities of refugee journeys are woven into loving interactions within the family and experiences of discrimination are contrasted with welcoming acts that temper the story\u2019s bleaker moments. The digital illustrations are particularly effective in conveying details and events not mentioned in the poems and in conveying emotions through the girl\u2019s expressive eyes. This picturebook is a moving and illuminating depiction of the journeys and emotions experienced by refugees.<\/p>\n
\u200b
The powerful way in which the images and words interweave in this picturebook creates layers of meaning and interpretation. The lyrical nature of Matt\u2019s reflections is matched by the emotion of Loren\u2019s textured acrylic illustrations. Themes of resilience, healing, and connection are captured in the words and images around explorations of home as love and comfort that extend beyond four walls to the earth itself. Just as in their earlier collaboration, Love,<\/em> this book tugs on reader\u2019s heartstrings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\nMaham Khwaja is the author of The Home We Make<\/em>, illustrated by Zainab Faidhi, in which a young Muslim girl and her family are forced to flee their home due to the violence of war. Told from a first-person perspective in free verse poems, the girl describes their long walk and their journey by sea to a refugee camp and eventually to a new land. Throughout this dangerous journey, the girl constantly wonders whether each new place is now home.
\u200b
This poignant portrayal of the longing for home captures the terror of displacement and the comfort of small tender moments. The harsh realities of refugee journeys are woven into loving interactions within the family and experiences of discrimination are contrasted with welcoming acts that temper the story\u2019s bleaker moments. The digital illustrations are particularly effective in conveying details and events not mentioned in the poems and in conveying emotions through the girl\u2019s expressive eyes. This picturebook is a moving and illuminating depiction of the journeys and emotions experienced by refugees.<\/p>\n
![\"Picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.childrensliteratureassembly.org\/uploads\/1\/1\/8\/6\/118631535\/published\/2.png?1762322127\")
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.childrensliteratureassembly.org\/uploads\/1\/1\/8\/6\/118631535\/published\/rttt-call-out.png?1762321916\")
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n