New House, New Home

2025 JANUARY CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL HOT OFF THE PRESS PICK A picture book for families building a home, with illustrations by Twinkle Tots illustrators Liz and Kate Pope. In rhyming text by Megan Saben, two eager children watch step-by-step as their new home is built over the course of a year. With an adorable puppy to find on each page and a collection of boards, pipes, and wires, New House, New Home is the perfect gift for aspiring builders.

Megan Saben holds master’s degrees in children’s literature from Hollins University and in library science from University of Iowa, and applied them as a children’s librarian for four years. She writes for Redeemed Reader, is the author of Something Better Coming, and has served on children’s book award committees for WORLD magazine and the Virginia Library Association. Saben and her husband live in south central Virginia, where she drinks lattes, homeschools their five boys, and knits when she isn’t reading or writing. The Pope twins, Liz and Kate Pope, born and raised in Derbyshire, now live on opposite sides of Chesterfield. After both gaining first-class degrees in surface pattern from Staffordshire University, Liz and Kate began their careers as professional greeting card and book illustrators, working together to create their signature colorful and collaged style. Liz describes herself as the illustrator of the team, sketching out designs which she then gives to Kate to work up in paint, collage, and patterned paper. This mixture of illustration and design gives their charming artwork a sense of vibrancy, movement, and eclecticism. When they’re not drawing, Liz and Kate like to scour charity shops for bargains, ensuring their personal styles are just as individual as their artwork!