Kids’ Book Review: Review: No One is Home
Leo wants to spend the day with Kimbo, his best
friend. He sets out to buy him his favourite pastries but encounters a traffic
jam and decides to walk.Â
At the cake shop, Ladybug and Beetle are squabbling
about what they are going to choose, and Leo waits in line, frustrated at the
delay.
He leaves without a purchase.Â
Leo lists all the extraordinary things he’d like to
buy for Kimbo, but also all the reasons they are inaccessible.
Leo decides a poem from the heart would be the most
appropriate present for his friend. He writes a rhyming verse but at the end he
can’t rhyme the last line.
Penguin and Sons sells rhymes. They
will solve his problem. But, even with all their experience, they can’t come up with
a rhyming word for oranges.Â
Leo arrives at Kimbo’s house with an unfinished
poem.
Kimbo isn’t there but at Leo’s house in the hope
that they can spend the day together.Â
There are a lot of uncommon obstacles for the two
friends to overcome. It seems any plans they try to make are road blocked!
They must contend with traffic jams, a Bug parade, Robo-Dog
exhibitions, which become chaotic when the Robo-Dogs lose their screws, and
turn to the mouse garage for help.Â
Can the two friends finally meet up? Â Will Leo finish his poem before he meets
Kimbo? If not, what alternative does he have?
Will all the adventures they have had, trying to get
together, be enough excitement for a birthday day?Â
This is a humorous journey which begins from
opposite sides of town, with two friends trying to please one another, while
trying to meet in the middle.
No One is Home has stunning, bright,
bold, intricate illustrations by Gosia Herba. The pages are filled with so much
for children to search and find. The most amazing end
pages are bold, black images set against a yellow background.Â
Mikolaj Pa is a graphic designer, writer, and
collage artist with a list of other amazing roles, who lives in Wroclaw,
Poland.Â
Herba illustrates children’s books and graphic
novels. Her work has been exhibited around the globe. She has a unique style, and
an incredible ability to fill space with detailed images. Here, she uses only
animals as characters.
This beautiful book is one of many children’s
picture books emerging recently from Europe, by gifted creators who are
capturing the attention of many Australian publishers and distributors.
Title:Â No One is Home
Author:Â Mikolaj Pa
Illustrator: Gosia Herba
Publisher:Â NewSouth Books, $29.99Â
Publication Date: 1 September 2025
Format:Â Hardcover
ISBN: 9781778402180
For ages: 4 – 8
Type: Picture BookÂ
