“Today is moving day!” A young Cherokee girl has been living in the city, where the pace is too fast, animals are too few, crowds are too big, and the rest of her family is too far away. With everything packed, she bids a swift goodbye to the house and backyard swing before she and her mom head off, driving toward their ancestral homelands. “Singing, / shell shaking, / storytelling, / stickball playing / all offer different beats.” When they finally arrive, it’s to a lush landscape, a large and loving family and community, and “the rhythm of being home.” The words are spare but emotionally evocative, with pleasing details in the text extended by mixed-media illustrations in which rich colors are used to echo the comforting feeling of home as a place of warmth and belonging.

From Sibert Honor–winning author Traci Sorell and Caldecott Medal–winning artist Michaela Goade comes a heartwarming picture book about a Native American family and the joy of moving back to their ancestral land.

Today is a day of excitement—it’s time to move! As a young Cherokee girl says goodbye to the swing, the house, and the city she's called home her whole life, she readies herself for the upcoming road trip. While her mother drives, the girl draws the changing landscape outside her window. She looks forward to the end of the journey, where she'll eat the feast her family has prepared, play in the creek with her cousins, and settle into the new rhythm of home.

With warm, expressive artwork and spare, lyrical prose, the story of a young girl’s move toward rather than away from home unfolds.