I Know Here

The little girl in this story lives in a trailer near a forest in Saskatchewan, where her father is building a dam. She knows and loves everything about the place, but the dam is nearly finished, and when summer comes the family will move to Toronto — a city marked by a big red star on the map at school. “Have the people in Toronto seen what I’ve seen?” the little girl asks, thinking of her road, her school, the forest where she plays hide-and-seek and where the wolf howls at night, the hill where she goes tobogganing in winter… And with her teacher’s help, she finds a way to keep everything she loves about home.

This simple, beautifully written story, complemented by Matt James’s vibrant, imaginative illustrations, will resonate deeply with anyone who has had to leave their home for a new place

Laurel Croza lived near four dam sites when she was a child, moving nine times and attending six schools before she was fourteen. I Know Here, her first book, is based on her memories of leaving Saskatchewan for Toronto. A sequel, From There to Here, also illustrated by Matt James, will be published by Groundwood in spring 2014. Laurel lives with her family in Toronto. Matt James is a noted painter, illustrator and musician. His first picture book, Yellow Moon, Apple Moon by Pamela Porter, won the New Mexico Book Award and was a finalist for a Governor General’s Award. I Know Here by Laurel Croza, won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award. Matt lives in Toronto.