Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 05/19/2025 In spectacularly composed signature-style spreads, Ransome (Fighting with Love) crafts a wordless story that centers an unhoused child and caretaker. From school pickup to drop-off, the close, familial-feeling figures, portrayed as Black, together navigate a bustling, New York City-like metropolis. They first stop at a fast-food restaurant, then walk through bustling streets to a comparatively empty library, where the adult reads and the child diligently completes homework until closing time. With the library’s lights turning off, they make their way on spotlit paths through a park, where they spend the night on a bench, flanked by nocturnal animals-the adult watching over the child-before the sun rises. A shirt is changed and hair combed, teeth-brushing occurs at a park drinking fountain, and the school day begins again. Richly detailed, carefully lighted images guide readers through this duo’s evening and morning in visuals that brim, throughout scenes of the two in crowds and alone, with abiding love and care. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Includes an author’s note. Ages 3-7. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary. (Aug.) - Copyright 2025