A guest opinion from Michael Strickland.

“I’ve learned that home is not a place, it’s a feeling,” wrote author Cecelia Ahern, in Love, Rosie. Amid today’s heated debates over U.S. immigration, with families separated, borders politicized, and countless displacement stories lost in the noise, I really enjoyed reading this quiet but profound counter perspective. Home, Home, by debut author and illustrator Sibu T.P. is a tender exploration of identity, belonging, and the deep connections that bind families across generations and geographies. This beautifully illustrated picture book offers a gentle yet powerful way to discuss themes of cultural heritage, displacement, and the meaning of “home” with young readers. Whether your child is a member of an immigrant family or simply learning about diverse cultures, Home, Home provides an opportunity to reflect on the rituals, flavors, and relationships that shape their sense of belonging. It’s also a valuable resource for Idaho teachers striving to meet the state’s education standards for the early grades.

Summer has arrived, and Ajesh is ready to spend the next few months in the comfort of his bedroom, drinking the Chaiya that his mom makes specially for him. Ajesh feels at home the most when he’s drinking this warm milky tea with his parents, away from the outside world that often makes him feel different.

For many children of immigrants, connecting with their ancestral roots is crucial for fostering their sense of belonging in this ever-changing world. This beautiful and lush story illuminates the duality of home and the experience of living between two cultures.

But when his parents announce that they’re going on a trip “back home” to Kerala, India, Ajesh has trouble connecting with a place that’s so unfamiliar to him. The sticky heat, crowded streets, and swaths of family members who seem to know his name even though they’ve never met, make him long for the life and physical spaces that he’s used to—that is, until Chaiya is served.

This heartwarming story is about the human parts of home and connecting with your ancestral lands and daily rituals that ground and link each of us across space and multiple generations. Home, Home’s author, whose full name is Sibu Puthenveettil, is a first-generation child of immigrants, who spent a great deal of his childhood years scribbling and sketching, dreaming and imagining. Today, he tells his stories through picture books.

Idahoan teachers can incorporate Home, Home to meet the English Language Arts Idaho Content Standards, including Reading Literature (RL.1.1–RL.3.3), Speaking & Listening (SL.1.1–SL.3.4), and Writing (W.1.3–W.3.3). Students can analyze character emotions, identify themes of belonging and family traditions, and compare their own life experiences. Teachers can facilitate discussions on cultural identity, using prompts like “What makes you feel at home? How do families share traditions?” Finally, students can write personal narratives about their own family rituals or create a fictional story about visiting a new place to bring the discussion full circle.

In addition, teachers can apply these connections to the Idaho Content Standards for Social Studies. For Standard 1: History (K–3), teachers can instruct students on how to explore their family traditions and cultural heritage. Home, Home can aid teachers in a discussion of how families maintain connections to their roots, aligning with their lessons on family history and migration.

For Standard 2: Geography (K–3), Home, Home contrasts Ajesh’s life in the United States with his family’s home in Kerala, India, enabling students to compare environments, cultures, and the concept of “home” internationally.

To meet Standard 4: Civics and Government (K–3), teachers can use Home, Home to introduce discussions on respect for a wide range of cultures and what it means to belong to a community.

Through Ajesh’s journey, Home, Home reminds readers that home is not just a place. It’s the love, traditions, and small moments that make us all feel seen and cherished. Whether in the familiarity of a bedroom or the bustling warmth of a family gathering oceans away, home is where personal connection can be found. Sibu T.P.’s touching writing debut is a celebration of the ties that bind people to their past, present, and future. It offers comfort and understanding to anyone who has ever felt caught between two worlds.

Classroom activity ideas include making and serving Chaiya during a discussion about connections. After reading the story, students can each share their family’s tradition and discuss how the tradition makes them feel at home. To compare and contrast their homes with Ajesh’s two homes (United States and India), teachers introduce a Venn diagram where each student compares and contrasts their homes to Ajesh’s home. Students can create a cultural art project, where they present an object, food, or tradition that represents “home” to them via their writings and drawings.

In a previous column, I stated,

Idaho is changing. On the Boise School District website, you can click for translations in Cantonese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian and Hindi. Teachers in Idaho and Utah have told me they have encountered students with 12 to 25 different first-languages and national origins in a single classroom. Boise’s Taft Elementary hosts students from over 15 different countries speaking 13 different languages and provides Halal lunches for children of Muslim faith.

With Idaho’s growing cultural diversity, the pictorial story of Home, Home provides a gentle yet meaningful way to teach empathy, global awareness, and family heritage. By incorporating it into lessons, teachers can meet state standards while helping students appreciate the numerous ways people experience belonging. Stories like this one continue to remind us that classrooms are microcosms of the wider world. By exploring Ajesh’s journey, teachers can help students understand that home isn’t just a place. It’s the love, traditions, and connections we carry with us.

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