The Littlest Yak: Home Is Where the Herd Is - Lu Fraser - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Lu Fraser
ILLUSTRATOR: Kate Hindley
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: October 15, 2024
RATING: 4.25 stars.


In a Nutshell: The third standalone picture book of The Littlest Yak series. Quite cute, but not as ‘awww’-inducing as the earlier two. (To be fair, they were exceptional, so this book had some hefty expectations to live up to.)


Plot Preview:
Gertie the littlest yak and her herd are moving to a new mountain. Gertie is obviously not happy about the shift. How can she squeeze all her belongings onto her tiny sled? Her mother tries to tell her that a home isn’t about material objects, but Gertie cannot agree. Surely books and toys and all the other lovely things she owns cannot be left behind? Surely her mother is wrong this once? So Gertie does her best to pile up everything she owns onto the sled, making space for a special someone as well. However, midway the journey, something valuable goes missing, and Gertie realises the importance of what truly matters.


I had absolutely adored the first two books of this series: 'The Littlest Yak' and 'The Littlest Yak and the New Arrival', so this book had some mountainous expectations to meet. That might be part of the reason why it didn’t hit that high note with me. But this in no way reduces the value of this book.

The storyline is quite strong, as is the moral. Material objects certainly don’t make that big a difference in the long run. As they say, home is where the herd… errrm, heart… is. So the life lesson that Gertie learns is something quite important for children and adults alike.

I do feel Gertie’s pain. It was unfair that the young bibliophile had to leave much of her physical belongings (including books!) behind. I wish there had been some dialogue from Mummy Yak about how to choose what to take or about prioritising. Simply saying that a home is more than the things you pack would be quite vague advice for a child. Also, a tiny protest at the “special someone” being called a “thing” twice in the book.

It was amazing to see the herd together yet again, and even more awesome to see little Dotty (who was born in the second book and should now officially be the “littlest yak”) popping up in this story. Granny Yak is a superstar, as always.

The story is written in simple rhythmic prose that works wonderfully for readalouds, with longish sentences in the perfect meter and AABB rhymes.

The illustrations are as adorable as always. Gertie, her herd, and the entire mountainous setting is depicted beautifully. There is plenty happening in the background of the illustrations as well, so the sketches are enough to keep little eyes busy for a long time. Don’t forget to check out the names of the books Gertie owns when she is packing them – they are hilarious! I love this illustrator’s attention to detail!

Definitely recommended. This entire series offers the perfect dose of fun learning. The story should work great for general and bedtime reading at home, and will suit littlies aged 3-8.

I continue to love this series, and I hope there will be many more adventures with Gertie and even Dotty.

My thanks to Holiday House and Peachtree for providing the DRC of “The Littlest Yak: Home Is Where the Herd Is” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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