Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 03/01/2026 PreS-Gr 3—A beautiful and sentimental story about family love expressed through caretaking. Told through the daily actions of a multigenerational Asian family, the story will wind its way through readers' hearts. Stunning illustrations of watercolor, gouache, and colored pencils soften the realities of growing older and needed additional support from loved ones; with a small girl with tannish skin and black hair at its center, it will be easy for readers to picture their own family structures and those in them who may need a little more help. Heartfelt depictions of love through extended family will help young readers understand that family comes in all shapes and sizes, can be big and broad, and that all families give and receive help from each other. The child narrates, calling an elderly woman her "a-ma," a familial naming convention that can lead to conversations within the classroom; cultural nuances can be seen in this homey, loving book for read-alouds or one-on-one sharing. VERDICT A wonderful book to introduce multigenerational family units, cultural norms, and caregiving.—Elizabeth Speer - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Other - 03/09/2026 In a reverent intergenerational narrative, Chung and Gonzales highlight reciprocal acts that functionally support an extended family, which cues as of Taiwanese descent. Via limpid lines, an unnamed child protagonist compares their family’s ongoing efforts to a flowing river: "The way we care for one/ another never stops./ It connects each generation/ to the next/ and back again." Examples include now-grown children bathing and feeding adults who once did the same for them, and the narrator’s mutual relationship with A-gong: "He picks me up from school... I go with him to his doctors’ appointments," each with "a snack and a smile." A water motif weaves throughout digitally finished watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations, its gently scalloped curves framing softly rendered familial interactions, and a stirring closing sequence highlights connections that endure across life and death, proximity, and age. An author’s note concludes. Ages 3-7. (May) - Copyright 2026