And the People Stayed Home (Nature Picture Books, Home Kids Book) Hardcover – Picture Book, November 10, 2020

I bought abd gave this book to all my tutoring students as well as adults. It was do well written abd we are living that book today. It was factual but in a positive way in that it changed people fir the better. It touched in death by using butterflies. It was just a beautiful book. This is my granddaughters first year of teaching. She is in grade 3 in Sarasota Schools. I sent one for her class but included by thoughts in the beginning in a soft way but so later they will know this was most certainly history in our country. In the book the story ended but we are still a long ways from that. I passed along 16 books in the hope that this will always be remembered in the very kind way the book presented it.

Every once in a blue moon, a book, poem, or movie catches and transcends a universal shared experience. This gorgeous, illustrated, heartfelt children’s book has already emerged as our collective tale of what we’ve shared and learned and even been inspired by during the fearsome coronavirus’ pandemic. This haunting poem, written by Kitty O’Meara, an unknown chaplain and spiritual director who is already being called “The Poet Laureate of the Pandemic” (by Oprah Magazine), first caught my eye on social media (over 1 million people shared it and still do!). The illustrations are beautiful ---soft and warm and will appeal to a diverse audience. With so many of us at home, this book opens the door to deep, meaningful conversations about what's happening right now (with shelter in place and the virus) with our kids. Highly recommend it!

Just unboxed this and was shocked by how well made it is. The illustrations are beautiful and the pages are thick. Beautiful writing. If you’d like to read ahead the poem is available online but the book makes it perfect for children. I think this is so important to include kids in the conversation about what is going on this year and why we stay home for now.

When the Pandemic started, I read this poem. It gave me hope and helped me focus on the good things in my life and the things around me. It helped me make changes in my life to better my quality of life by bringing things into perspective. The illustrations are beautiful! I am thankful to have this book to remind us in the future of what we went through and to read to my grandchildren some day, to help describe what happened in 2020.

Beautiful writing paired with beautiful illustrations as well. My only complaint was some excess glue in the binding that caused some minor page tearing. But... it’s no worse than normal wear and tear or what my two littles will do to it over time.

This book, although written during the pandemic, remains valid. It is a wonderful story of what can happen when we become aware of what is truly important. I purchased several books as gifts, which were enjoyed by the recipients. I recommend this for ages 2 and up.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that provides examples of what some people did during the pandemic, and offering a glimpse of hope for the future.The poem is simple but eloquently stated.It is a book to keep as a remembrance of this quarantine time for any age.

This illustrated poem might be the most beautiful piece of writing I have read about the pandemic to date (and I personally LOVE it!). It presents the most optimistic, uplifting, healing view of the pandemic that I have read, suggesting that something transformative and positive can come out of the devastation. It describes people staying at home, experiencing a break from their busy normal lives of endless production and consumption, and using this time to find a new relationship to Being. “And people stayed home and read books and listened and rested and exercised and made art and played and learned new ways of being and stopped and listened deeper; someone meditated, someone prayed, someone danced, and someone met his shadow…” LOVE IT!!But as a children's book? I am a teacher. I would say this book is certainly written more for adults than the children they are reading to (the children had a lot of questions- "Why were they home?" "What does it mean to meet your shadow?") and it wasn't clear that they got the message, or that it was helpful to them. If you read it to children, the audience should be at least 7+.Also, in terms of "read alouds," this book is not for everyone. It would be hard to read to a group (I think). The pandemic affected different groups very unequally, and this book is likely to seem either completely tone deaf or inspired, depending upon your personal experience of the pandemic. Bottom line for 'read alouds' would be to "tread cautiously"- knowing that many people have experienced heartbreaking losses of loved ones, hardship, and financial insecurity due to the pandemic and may not have had enough basic needs met to focus on self-actualizing, and not wanting to be dismissive of the pain and suffering that has been caused, this book offers up some “silver linings” and an eloquent vision of hope, healing, and possibility.

A beautifully written and illustrated book on our pandemic experience - it’s a memorial to all that the world felt as the world closed down -I have inscribed ‘Lest we forget’ on the copies I’ve given friends - the book feels lovely and has such poignancy and hope -

Un libro bellissimo sia per il messaggio (la poesia di Kitty) che per le illustrazioni.