Under One Roof

Collaborators Paul and Paul present the night sky as a uniting cover in this openhearted picture book with unlined geometric artwork by Neal. An early question provides an inviting frame: “If you lifted up shingles or peeked in each home,/ What might you find on your starry-night roam?” Crisp couplets offer a range of answers, providing an empathic vision of family relationships and life moments. In one spread, a child longs for their sibling, pictured wearing fatigues at an airport (“A hand-written letter,/ a picture that’s curled,/ help siblings who live on/ two sides of the world”). In another, small groups sleep on cots in a gymnasium as rain pours outside (“Under a roof that isn’t their own/ one family takes shelter ’til they can go home”). Cool tones illuminate starry skyscapes, arrayed dwellings, and unlined figures of various skin tones as text offers comfort for all, with closing lines driving home the title’s reassuring metaphor: “a roof made of moonbeams and twinkling stars/ shines down on us all, wherever we are.” Creators’ notes conclude. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)