Despite not coming from a military family, I found this to be a charming and heartwarming little book. The illustrations are GORGEOUS and the story of a family welcoming home their father who is a service member is beautifully written. Would recommend this to families and teachers to help children understand the challenges faced by children who have family members serving overseas.

Thank you to NetGalley, Whimspire Books, and Cortney Cino for allowing me to read the eARC of this book!

An obvious, sentimental, emotion-pulling piece, that shows a girl showing us what happens on the day her daddy comes back from a period of service with the US Air Force. She and her brother are always 'Baby' to the perfect wife, the path to the family reunion is rather devoid of hiccup, drama or issue – and the art is stuck in the 1950s, in a style that never in one pixel tells you the artist was raised and trained in Uzbekistan. For all the rampant jingoism here, for all the Stepford sentimentality and perfection, this is still a book that could be vitally important to some youngsters missing their parent due to them being in service, so it's a four star read, whatever my sniffiness may have led anyone to believe.

In Finally Home, we spend the day with Sara, a military child whose father is returning from being away for some amount of time (the calendar in the art says its at least a month, but there is no indication in the art or text about how long it actually is. The blurb says more than six months). We get an inside look at her thoughts and feelings as she waits for the moment she is reunited. As a military spouse, I think this is an accurate look into how families react to homecoming, and a nice way to prepare children for their first one.
Unfortunately I wasn't the biggest fan of the illustrations. They appear to be an old-school watercolor style, something I usually love, but the style doesn't work well for the people in the book. Almost every character looks a bit off, giving me uncanny valley vibes. I'm not sure if modern children would like the art.

Finally Home is a charming tribute to those who protect our nation through the U.S. military and those members of their family who wait for their safe return. Cortney Cino tells about a young boy and girl who prepare a wonderful and thoughtful welcome home experience for their father who they have missed while he was serving as an aviator in the U.S. military. Each page shows their love for their father and exclaim how excited they are for his return when they can once again see him and run into his arms for a long-awaited hug.

Cortney Cino has remarkable captured the joy of being reconnected with family members. Each illustration is colorful and expressive. this is a wonderful addition for classrooms, school libraries, and for children who may miss a parent themselves while they are defending our nation via the U.S. military.

As someone who works for the Marine Corps, I was excited to give Finally Home a try. By the time I got around to reading it, I wasn’t sure which branch it was geared toward, but I recognized subtle nods to the Marine Corps. While I haven’t been to MCAS Cherry Point, the gate illustration reminded me of Camp Lejeune.

The artwork had a nostalgic vibe, which I really enjoyed. The length and message of the book were great, making it a meaningful and engaging read for military families.

Overall, this is a really cute and thoughtful book. I highly recommend pitching it to United Through Reading, a program that allows service members to record themselves reading books for their children while they’re away. I also plan to mention it to our installation librarian as a potential addition once it’s published.

If you’re a military family or know a military child, this story beautifully represents the sacrifices they make when a parent serves.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this!

This was a sweet story about a family waiting to be reunited with their dad returning from service. The illustrations are wonderful and accompany the story well.

Finally Home is a touching story about two kids eagerly waiting for their father to return from military service. Cortney Cino does a wonderful job capturing the emotions of that moment—the love, excitement, and deep bond between a parent and child.

As someone who values stories about military families, I found this book to be a heartfelt tribute to their strength and dedication. Cino’s writing feels real and sincere, making every moment come to life. If you’ve ever waited for someone you love to come home, this book will truly speak to you. I highly recommend it!

A special thank you to Netgalley, the author & publisher for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

Finally Home is a beautiful book about the events and emotions leading up to welcoming and celebrating a father coming home from military deployment. The illustrations were beautiful and really added to the emotion the words already make you feel. This also gives a tiny glimpse into the sacrifice military members make to serve their country by having to be away from their families. This is an important perspective and I will definitely be recommending this book to military and non-military families alike.

This is about a family whose father is returning from deployment. There is the excited lead up to see him and the love filled reunion.

Very cute story about a sister and her brother waiting for their dad to come home and a little bit about what that’s like for them. It shows how much the kids love their father and what they do to get ready for him.
While is a kids book. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of what is going through these kids heads? how long has it been since they last saw their father? While they are excited, is there anything that they are maybe a little bit nervous about? How much do they understand? I think, addressing some of these questions would be helpful for children who have parent in the military and show that they aren’t alone so that the children in the book are the same as them make it more relatable.

Through a child's eyes, Finally Home delves into the profound impact of military deployments on familial bonds and the resilience of love. The book is an opportunity to peek into the world of military families, into the sacrifices made not just by service members, but by the children who count days on calendars and the spouses who hold families together across continents. The book is a sensitive and empathetic chronicle of the everyday courage of the military families who learn to thrive despite separation. It stands as a powerful reminder that behind every service member's uniform beats the hearts of those who wait, hope, and love unconditionally – the true champions of military life.

This book is about two children who are going to see their dad. Their father is in the military. It’s been days, weeks, months, maybe years. This is about the excitement of the time to run out and greet your relative you haven’t seen in a while. I remember these times. We may not have done it in a hanger on the base, almost always an airport, but not always. But this rings completely true. The Navy brat me knows it. The illustrations are unusual. They are an old-fashioned style that might not speak to modern kids. I think the artist needs more practice. The arms, especially on women, are funny, and a lot of time so is the coloring. Overall, the book is fine and I’m happy that something like this exists. But at the same time this was made for niche audience.

This was such a cute and heartwarming book! Sara is anxiously waiting all day for her daddy to come home in this delightful book for little kids. The words fit the story perfectly and the pictures were cute. 4/5 stars!

With April coming up soon as the Month of the Military Child and May as Military Appreciation Month, this seems a good time to share this review. It's a touching tribute to the military. That definitely includes family members. Told through the eyes of a pilot's young daughter, the book nicely captures the depths of sacrifice and love that military families endure in the service to their country. The text is easy to read yet captures the growing sense of anticipation as the children await Daddy's return. You may find yourself about to burst with joy yourself as the jets land and methodically disembark.

Special kudos to illustrator Tim Deberd. Largely using soft, comfortable, let's say cozy feeling colors, he uses many little touches throughout that bring to life the old cliche of "a picture is worth a thousand words". I won't mention them all but standouts for me were the calendar on the wall with the days X'd out as the big day approaches and the eager faces of a child leaning out of a vehicle as it approaches the checkpoint to enter the base for the reunion. There even seems to be dust kicked up by the children's energetic run to their father when he finally steps from the plane. Though focused on one family, the sense of joy on the faces will make you smile. Enjoy spying these little touches as you read and enjoy the lovely illustrations. Children are often overlooked when it comes to discussions of family sacrifice, so it was a delight to see Cino focus on them.

Bottom line, it's surely obvious I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Well thought out and executed with touching, meaningful illustrations, it offers a sort of thank you to all who serve, families included. My sincere thanks to #WhimspireBooks and author #CortneyCino for sharing this book with me early. It was truly a delight and living in Alaska, a state with a heavy military presence, quite relevant to this day and age. I loved the final picture of the united again family having fun around the dinner table.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher and the author for this book. And anyone else who was involved in making this book happen. I thought this was such a cute and emotional book. I know what its like to wait for military loved ones to return home. My husband was in the military and waiting was never the fun part it was day he returned home. The day he came home I always greeted him with a hug and told him to never leave me again. This book brought emotion in it for me to read it about a family waiting for the dad to come home. Making pictures dressing up excited as ever to see the face of their loved one. Even though its meant for kids and the market is kid and family friendly I still enjoyed such a beautiful story about the love we have for our family when they return home in the military I cant wait to get a copy myself this only made me want to share it with more then just my family. I recommend highly recommend this book not just for people in the military but a family because it shows love a family has for each other. I wish I could rate this higher then a 5 star. More books like this please!!

Aw, sweet! I love books about military reunion and this was a heart-warming glimpse at a father's return through a little girl's eyes. I'm not sure if there were lgbtq+ couples in the illustrations, (there may have been) but besides that I thought the illustrations were beautiful.

This is such a great book for the younger kids whose parents are deployed and coming home soon.
As a military spouse I have read a lot of these types of books but this one has great illustrations and captures those little moments of the day of.

I do believe that some of the backgrounds on the pages were too close to the white font color. using a dark font would make it more readable, especially on a screen, but other than that a great concise story.

In this sweet story, Sara finally gets to see her dad after he’s been deployed for six months. The book walks us through her nervous energy as she joins all the other military families awaiting their reunion.

Why Kirsten loves it
I love the retro-inspired illustrations in this story, but I dare anyone not to get choked up when the Marine Corps parents are reunited with their families.

I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

This is a beautifully written and drawn picture book about the day a girls daddy comes home for leave from the Air Force. The girl and her mom and brother make signs and wait in a long line for the time to come for dad to be home. It's quite a spectacle but fun and exciting day. The book ends with the dad getting out of the plane and the kids running to him when they get the all clear. I wonderful story for kids who are waiting their parent coming back and to prepare them for what might happen.

I loved this picture book about Sara waiting to welcome her dad home from a deployment. I especially that her dad is a Marine. Growing up a Marine Brat I which picture books like this existed when I was kid. But I'm glad that exist now.