The House Baba Built

I knew nothing could happen to us within those walls in the house Baba built.

In Ed Young's childhood home in Shanghai all was not as it seemed: a rocking chair became a horse; a roof became a roller rink; an empty swimming pool became a place for riding scooters and bikes. The house his father built transformed as needed into a place to play hide-and-seek to eat bamboo shoots and to be safe.

For outside the home's walls China was at war. Soon the house held not only Ed and his four siblings but also friends relatives and even strangers who became family. The war grew closer and Ed watched as planes flew overhead and friends joined the Chinese air force. But through it all Ed's childhood remained full of joy and imagination.

This powerful poignant and exquisitely illustrated memoir is the story of one of our most beloved children's illustrators and the house his baba built.