A luminous picture-book tribute to house and home gently evokes the passage of time, the solace of memory, and the joys of preservation and renewal.

Every house has a story. This house—an old one hunkered in the deep grass below a wide country sky—is a waiting house. Once it was full of laughter and song. The sounds of life rang within its walls. Now it stands quiet and still. The house has sheltered many families over the years and remembers them fondly, especially the children.

New families arrive to look, but none stay. Perhaps the house, too, now belongs to the Long Ago and Used to Be? Or will the “right” family move in to honor its past and build new memories? Wistful and nostalgic, Mary Lyn Ray’s poetic text, combined with glowing, pastoral illustrations by E. B. Goodale that capture the lonely house’s unique character, create a quietly affecting hymn to hope and surprise that will enchant readers of all ages.

• This lyrical story of an old house in the country waiting for the right family is rich with an elusive, often ineffable sense of place. It captures that deep, deep yearning in all of us to belong to something that’s caring and authentic and long-lasting—and to be part of something that’s much greater than each of us. 
• Mary Lynn Ray’s lyrical prose is perfectly paired with rising star E.B. Goodale’s evocative illustrations.