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Before I Lived Here

by Stacy S. Jensen Publisher: NEAL PORTER BOOKS

A neighborhood’s history, layer by layer

Regular price $18.12 USD
Regular price $30.21 USD Sale price $18.12 USD
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Hardcover New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A neighborhood’s history, layer by layer

A boy traces the land beneath his home backward through time, moving from the neighborhood’s construction and planning to earlier ranchers and log cabins, the region’s Indigenous people and their eviction, and ultimately the age of dinosaurs. The book connects broad stretches of history to a familiar place, bringing questions of land and change into a child’s immediate surroundings. Its account includes both the development of a neighborhood and the displacement that preceded it, offering families a concrete starting point for talking about the past close to home.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Children ages 4–8 interested in neighborhoods, homes, and how places change over time.
  • Families seeking a picture book that can prompt conversations about local history and Indigenous displacement.
  • Young readers who enjoy construction sites and vehicles.

Themes

Local historyLand and placeNeighborhood developmentIndigenous displacementDeep time

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Journey backward in time through all the layers of history that led up to your neighborhood's existence.

The building you live in has probably been around longer than you, so you may think it's been there forever. But no matter where you live, a whole lot happened before your home was built.

In Before I Lived Here, a boy peels away each layer of the history of the land his house sits on. Follow along from the construction of the neighborhood back to the planning of it; from the ranchers and log cabins that predated it, back to the region's Indigenous people and their eviction from the land . . . all the way back to the time of the dinosaurs.

Before I Lived Here reminds us that history isn't something that happens far away, to other people--it's in our own backyards. Debut author Stacy S. Jensen makes the learning readily digestible. There's something here for every reader--from the irresistible depiction of construction sites for vehicle fans, to the somber facts of indigenous displacement recounted without flinching, making for a great family conversation starter on many different levels.
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Smooth.