Stories of formative childhood years are the most fun to recount and imagine and so lovingly passed, from generation to generation. These tales from a not-so-distant past let us know where we came from and form a steady surface upon which new adventures are stacked in unexpected but connected patterns.
The distance between my childhood and my children’s youth spans 30 years and 170 miles - not too great chasm, really. While advances in technology have made our childhoods dissimilar, in many ways my hometown is exactly as it was when I was a child. All of the same buildings and street signs. No Blockbuster, of course, but this thigh-scalding slide still stands, for better or worse!
Enlivening the scenes of my past is something I feel compelled to do - in park trips, parades, shopping outings, and the library, of course. Those places made me who I am and, in turn, made my children who they are.
Parents who have moved across the country or world have an even greater distance to traverse, when conveying these moments to their children. However, stories, momentos, photographs and, when possible, homecomings can intertwine to create an incredibly rich living history that begs for a new chapter that only the next generation can write.
The picture book MOMMY’S HOMETOWN, which arrives on shelves April 12, captures the challenges and immense rewards of deeply connecting young generations to their roots. Here’s the gorgeous glowing cover of this anticipated title…
MOMMY’S HOMETOWN by Hope Lim, illustrated by Jaime Kim (Candlewick), is a picture book about a child who has heard many nighttime stories about Mommy’s village, a place where “mountains nearby stood like giants” and an old river moves through the village “like a long thread.” In Mommy’s stories, the river is especially important - a place of adventure, treasure and carefree joy.
Mommy’s beautiful memories of playing in the river, so often recounted, become part of the child’s dreams. At last, the time has come to visit Mommy’s beloved place firsthand. With images of billowing clouds and the pebbled riverbank in their minds and hearts, they travel by train and finally arrive.
But, when they begin walking down the streets, the child finds not a small village, but a big city, where old stores and houses sit small and out of place next to new shiny tall buildings. “Is this really the same place where Mommy grew up?” the child wonders. “Everything is different from her stories.” The child’s longing to see things as Mommy did - the dirt roads, the pebbled paths - is affecting and powerful. So much has changed, making Mommy’s past feel out of reach.
Linking Mommy’s vibrant stories to the present seems an impossible task, especially when they finally arrive to the river - only to find it quiet and empty. No one splashes, as they did in Mommy’s tales. But Mommy and child wade into the water anyway. Soon they find themselves playing in the icy, swirling river, just as Mommy did as a girl.
As they walk home in the dusk, Mommy’s Hometown is aglow. Once sleepy old stores and homes now shine with activity and joy, a beautiful parallel to the light and life that the visit gives to Mommy’s stories, which now burn in the child’s imagination, even brighter than before.
Time will always separate parent and child, and stories will forever play a crucial role in invigorating the past. MOMMY’S HOMETOWN shows that even though the threads that connect these two worlds and experiences can feel delicate and tenuous, open and seeking hearts make the bonds alive and unbreakable.
I sat down for a chat with Hope to learn more about her story and the power of picture books! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Hope Lim:
3 Questions with Hope Lim
Thanks for stopping by the blog, Hope! Can you share what inspired this beautiful story?
My hometown in Korea and my memories of that place. Since moving to America, I have visited Korea to see my parents numerous times and always noticed the changes since my previous visit. One summer, I took my kids and husband to the old river where I used to play as a child. Watching them play and catch fish, I was overtaken by a sense of nostalgia because everything around the river was different from my childhood. At the same time, I was touched by the fact that my kids were reenacting exact scenes from my childhood decades later. At that moment, I wanted to write a story about the passage of time and the changes that took place. I also wanted to capture the new, special memories my kids created in my hometown, where my parents’ love and their steady presence remain the same as this old river.
The emotional tension between what the child expects to see, and the reality experienced, is so palpable. How did you hone in on the best way to express this longing?
I used to tell my kids about my childhood memories in my hometown and wished to take them back to the old days, knowing how much fun they would have. Then, when I took them to my hometown for the first time, I realized how different it was from my stories and wondered if they were able to draw the contrast between my stories and reality. As I wrote this story, I asked myself that question, and it prompted me to see things from the perspective of the child in me. With every visit, I was able to reintegrate into my parents’ daily routine and remember what it was like to walk through the different neighborhoods of my hometown. By the end of my visits, I always had a renewed appreciation of many things in my hometown and felt fortunate to have a place to visit and stay. I think experiencing all these different emotions helped me to express both disappointment and longing.
Your storytelling is so clear and true. How did life lead you to picture books, and how does this form suit your style?
When I became a mother, I read a lot with my kids and was really drawn to the power of picture books, where a single word or illustration can convey deep emotions. I also became fascinated by the way my kids viewed the world around them and kept a journal of their unique child-like perspectives and our everyday adventures. My kids were very close to each other and played wonderfully, always doing something fun together. I felt compelled to write something inspired by their play and imaginary friends, which eventually led me to the path of a picture book writer. In addition to the power of picture books, I love the combination of illustrations and text as art and words are two of my favorite things. When I write a picture book text, I enjoy the practice of leaving room for illustration. Trying to write in a way that conjures images is like leaving an invitation to a space that is open to many exciting possibilities. I truly look forward to seeing the visual worlds an illustrator creates, and how she or he brilliantly fills the space left by the text. When I receive the final art, I am always reminded of how happy I am to be part of the book making process.
Thank you so much for visiting the blog, Hope! You can pre-order MOMMY’S HOMETOWN now, here!
Hope Lim is the author of I AM A BIRD, illustrated by Hyewon Yum, and MY TREE, illustrated by Il Sung Na. Born and raised in South Korea, Hope Lim now lives with her family in San Francisco.
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