Rajani LaRocca’s 2025 picture book Some of Us is very timely. This became obvious as soon as I saw the subtitle: “A Story of Citizenship and the United States.”
I should say, though, that even though the subtitle says this is a story, it only is one in the broadest, most general way.
That doesn’t make it bad: this is a clear and at times moving explanation of what’s involved in moving to the United States and becoming a citizen. Told in the first person plural (“We may come from across the world,/or quite nearby.”), this is more like an old-fashioned photograph album. (Though the images are done in paper and Procreate by artist Huy Youn Lee, who is herself an immigrant, like the author.)
This American family album presents readers with a series of meaningful images from the timeline of immigrant experience. Some show families leaving a place, many show immigrants traveling, and those near the end document the actual process of becoming a citizen and the resulting rights and duties (like voting).
Much is implied here, and some may need parent or teacher explanation, like the page that shows only one hand (and wrist) clutching barbed wire. Expect a “What is happening there!” question.
Expect, as well, questions about just who the famous immigrants shown on the facing page are. Kids may know Rihanna, but not I.M. Pei (and some adults may have to look up this influential architect).
This nonfiction book will help kids understand the path to citizenship, and what so many of us share. (I have both refugees and immigrants in my family.) Quite a range of kids may recognize themselves here…and might be encouraged to create their own images of their own journeys, to add to the book.
