The World Belonged to Us

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Jacqueline Woodson and Leo Espinosa capture a time and place with such incredible vibrancy! Every time I read this beautiful picture book, I am absolutely transported. Delightful and timeless, The World Belonged to Us is an instant classic. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com

Two children's book superstars — #1 New York Times bestseller Jacqueline Woodson, the author of The Day You Begin, and Leo Espinosa, the illustrator of Islandborn­ — join forces to celebrate the joy and freedom of summer in the city, which is gloriously captured in their rhythmic text and lively art.

It's getting hot outside, hot enough to turn on the hydrants and run through the water — and that means it's finally summer in the city Released from school and reveling in their freedom, the kids on one Brooklyn block take advantage of everything summertime has to offer. Freedom from morning till night to go out to meet their friends and make the streets their playground — jumping double Dutch, playing tag and hide-and-seek, building forts, chasing ice cream trucks, and best of all, believing anything is possible. That is, till their moms call them home for dinner. But not to worry — they know there is always tomorrow to do it all over again — because the block belongs to them and they rule their world.

(This book is also available in Spanish, as El mundo era nuestro )

“[A] nostalgic homage to Woodson's childhood in her beloved Brooklyn....Author and illustrator offer a refreshing reminder of a pre-internet time when full-immersion play was the summer activity and kids took full advantage.” Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“Affirming the strengths of shared experiences and power drawn from collective appreciation, the creators show how a childhood can engender joy that follows 'everywhere I'd ever go.'" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Jacqueline Woodson is the recipient of a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children's Literature Legacy Award. She is the 2022 Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence, and was the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award, as well as the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and an NAACP Image Award. She also wrote the adult books Red at the Bone, a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn, a National Book Award finalist. Her dozens of books for young readers include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner Before the Ever After, New York Times bestsellers The Day You Begin and Harbor Me, Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster, and the picture book Each Kindness, which won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Leo Espinosa is a New York Times bestselling illustrator and designer from Bogotá, Colombia. His picture books include Islandborn (by Junot Diaz), for which he was awarded a Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor, No More Naps (by Chris Grabenstein), and Goldfish on Vacation (by Sally Lloyd-Jones). His award-winning illustrations have been recognized by American Illustration, Communication Arts, Pictoplasma, 3x3, and the Society of Illustrators (Gold and Silver Medals). In addition, he has given multiple lectures and workshops at schools and institutions such as Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute, as well as serving on the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design.