No One Is Home

K-Gr 2–Leo the cat is trekking across town to see his best friend, Kimbo the butterfly. It’s Kimbo’s birthday, and Leo wants to give him a gift. But Leo is stalled in a variety of ways: the annual bug parade blocks traffic, an argument breaks out in the bakery, and the penguins close the rhyme shop before Leo can finish his birthday poem. When Leo finally reaches Kimbo’s house, he finds that no one is home—because Kimbo has also traveled across the city, but to Leo’s house. The friends decide on a place and time to finally meet and celebrate. Reminiscent of the world of Richard Scarry, this work is set in a colorful and busy city. A range of anthropomorphized animals drive, work, shop, and relax as Leo and Kimbo just miss each other while traveling. Leo’s walk sets the pace of the work, and a hide-and-seek game at the start encourages readers to seek out the frogs as they read. Though full-page spreads are a little chaotic, several small vignettes of Leo’s birthday ideas and close-up images, like Leo’s poem and the friends’ phone conversation, provide an opportunity for readers to focus. Rather than writing in rhyme, Pa crafts the text of this work to flow naturally, developing the story and characters along with the setting.