Before I Lived Here

By Stacy S. Jensen, Victo Ngai (Illustrator)

Uncover the hidden history beneath your home, from dinosaurs to today.

4.2/5 Goodreads · 165 ratings

32 pages· 215 words· Est. 2 min read-aloud

$18.99Save 5%

In stock. Also at Amazon or Bookshop.

Bookroo's summary

A curious boy embarks on a journey through time, peeling back the layers of history beneath his home. From modern construction to ancient dinosaurs, he discovers the stories of ranchers, log cabins, and Indigenous peoples who once inhabited the land. As he delves deeper, he uncovers the profound changes that shaped his neighborhood. What secrets lie beneath your feet, and how do they connect us to the past? This exploration invites readers to reflect on the history that surrounds us, sparking conversations about the land's rich and complex past.

From the publisher

Journey backward in time through all the layers of history that led up to your neighborhood’s existence. The building you live in has probably been around longer than you, so you may think it’s been there forever. But no matter where you live, a whole lot happened before your home was built. In Before I Lived Here, a boy peels away each layer of the history of the land his house sits on. Follow along from the construction of the neighborhood back to the planning of it; from the ranchers and log cabins that predated it, back to the region’s Indigenous people and their eviction from the land . . . all the way back to the time of the dinosaurs. Before I Lived Here reminds us that history isn’t something that happens far away, to other people–it’s in our own backyards. Debut author Stacy S. Jensen makes the learning readily digestible. There’s something here for every reader–from the irresistible depiction of construction sites for vehicle fans, to the somber facts of indigenous displacement recounted without flinching, making for a great family conversation starter on many different levels.

At a glance