When We Stayed Home

[D]irect and readable. The delicious sherbet-colored illustrations depict a soft, idyllic suburban setting and usefully identify the real helpers as global health care providers. An appealing account of the sunnier side of lockdown. – Kirkus Reviews

With whimsical illustrations and relatable prose, When We Stayed Home is a reminder of how young children navigated big feelings and cheered themselves on during the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic. Honoring their role as "super helpers” they made sure to wash their hands, wear masks, social distance, and stay home.

With the family dog as a trusty sidekick, the super-helper in When We Stayed Home builds virus-free forts, decorates toilet paper-shaped cookies, enjoys screen visits and dance parties with family and friends, and relies on resourcefulness, creativity, and imagination to weather the virus storm. 

Young children will recognize their own experiences and emotions as they see another child paint endless pictures and draw chalk art, read books and do puzzles, wave “hello” to masked neighbors, play under a bluer-than-usual sky, and feel all the feelings as they miss school, playgrounds, and friends and family while staying in their own houses. 

When We Stayed Home was inspired by Judy Proffer's resilient five year-old nephew, who continued to find moments of comfort and mirth in home, nature, adventures, and activities even while longing for the virus to go far, far away and by co-author and licensed family and marriage therapist Tara Fass’s work with families to maneuver the bumpy road of the pandemic with tools, optimism, and hope.

This gentle book serves as a time capsule for an uncertain time, celebrates the gifts of family, home, imagination and love, and honors the true heroes of covid.

Yoko Matsuoka is a professional fantasy artist living in Northern Japan, specializing in creating evocative worlds and intense imagery for book covers, fine-art posters, games, and other products. (By daylight hours, a full-time illustrator, but when night falls, she transforms into a metal-working steampunk hobbyist with a taste for hot sauce and Cheetos.) Judith A. Proffer is the founder of Huqua Press. Previously, she spent 25 years with press media (LA Weekly, OC Weekly, Village Voice Media, and Sun Community Newspaper.) She is the editor of I Hope You Dance, The Power of Spirit and Song, and co-authored Broadway Baby. Proffer has been named one of the leading “Women Who Make a Difference” in the Southern California Community and has taught writing workshops to children, adults, and incarcerated at-risk youths. She teamed with Hollywood Caterer, Gwen Kenneally, to establish Magpie Mini Pies, with proceeds benefiting local non-profits. Tara Fass, LMFT has treated the walking wounded of Los Angeles for twenty years as a therapist/mediator and co-parent educator through her clinical work and private counseling. She was a Huffington Post contributor for six years and blogs for “It’s Over Easy,” an online divorce support resource. When We Stayed Home is her second book.