Home Sweet Neighborhood cover
Michelle Mulder’s 2019 book is one of seven they have written for the Orca Footprints series. Orca Books is a local publisher, set to celebrate its 40th birthday in 2024, of kids books on a variety of topics but with a strong focus on the natural world, Indigenous topics and social issues. “We strive to produce books that illuminate the experiences of people of all ethnicities, people with disabilities and people who identify as LGBTQ+” (from Orca Books). Mulder is actually the founding author of the Orca Footprints series which aims to answer the “hard questions about social and environmental issues in their communities and around the world” that kids are asking. As of 2023 there are 29 books in the series (see Orca Footprints).
This 48-page book (which includes the acknowledgements, a glossary and the index – it’s short and sweet) is written in simple and engaging language and is loaded with bright, colourful photos (well mostly, some archival shots are sepia or black and white) many of which feature kids. Although older kids could read it on their own, the conversational and discussion-provoking way it is written makes me think it would be a great book to read a section of out loud before dinner and then talk about it as a family over a meal.
The book is full of easy-to-understand definitions for placemaking terms with concrete examples that make this a useful book for introducing the subject to anyone not familiar with it – not just kids. For those of us that live in Victoria there is the added joy of seeing and reading about familiar placemaking projects – some of which we might even have been involved in. And you might even recognize faces in the photos though since many of them are of kids from Michelle’s neighbourhood they may look completely different after four plus years of growth!
You can get the book from the public library or, of course, buy it from any number of great local bookshops. If you’re a teacher Orca has a teacher guide to the Footprints series that is available as a hard copy or a downloadable PDF.
Read more about Home Sweet Neighborhood: Transforming Cities One Block at a Time, on Michelle Mulder’s website.
Guest Author Bio
Susan Martin. Longtime resident of #YYJ who delights in exploring every corner and cul de sac of our beautiful city. Thinks that walking is one of the best medicines in existence and tries to get a dose of it each day. Keenly interested in how our built environment affects the health of individuals, neighbourhoods and societies.
Follow Susan On: Twitter
